| The Undiscovered Country Mike Campbell It has been quite sometime since we have heard from Destiny. Their last album was called "Nothing Left to Fear" (it was very good too). Destiny is a Swedish band. At the time of the recording of this album the band consisted of three full time members: vocalist - Zenny Gram, bass - Stefan Bjornshog, and guitars - Knut Hassel. Destiny used Hakan Svantesson as he drummer for this album. Since the recording the band has added two more full time members. I had been looking forward to this album for quite some time. I am familiar with the bands early work and I knew it was very good metal, although in my opinion, "The Undiscovered Country" surpasses anything they've done and also is better than most metal releases this year. The band are on the same label as Evergray. The production is good on the disc and the mix is solid. The album features 8 songs and around 50 minutes of great music. No instrumentals, no key boards, no ballads, and nothing remotely resembling neo classical influence. The album has a dark, aggressive feel from beginning to end. The first tune "The Devil in the Dark" hits you with its forceful ‘don't dare to look away' lyrics. This is a total pump song that I guarantee you'll turn up the volume as it begins. Lead vocalist, Zenny Gram also gets up into Halford territory on a few of the highest notes in the songs. Amazing song and my favorite on the disc just due to its aggressive feel. The second song continues the aggressiveness and has a nice groove to it. Again, we hear Zenny show off his range on the choruses. The third song slows things down a bit, almost into a less doomy Candle Mass sounding song, but this is not a ballad. The remainder of the album is fast paced and upbeat. That is truly what I love about this album, they did not copy what the did in past; Destiny has took their past material as a foundation while at the same time using aggression as a creative factor. And when I say aggression, I'm not in any way referring to Pantera type metal or hard core; this is power metal yet still very melodic and listenable. Songs 4,5, & 6 all continue the aggressive but melodic approach. Occasionally, the vocals are processed a bit and it sounds very cool. Perhaps the sweetest chorus on the album comes in song seven, "Tomorrow is Yesterday". Another thing I find cool the band uses the harmony vocals, sometimes I think bands over do their use of harmony vocals but Destiny uses them very tastefully. The final song, "The Undiscovered Country" is another highlight of the disc. Pounding bass work leads us into the song, then we hit a chorus with a very deep voice dueling with Zenny. It's a great tune though. No complaints at all with this disc, I recommend this to fans of great
power metal. As I said, this is among my favorite disc of the year, running
neck and neck with Power of Omens as my favorite. |
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