Year : 2015
Style : Melodic Symphonic Power Metal , Female vocals
Country : Italy
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 621 mb
Bio:
Skylark is an Italian power metal band founded in 1994 by Eddy Antonini and is still active today.Skylark was founded by Eddy Antonini in 1994 with the intent of exploring several musical styles in one project.After adding four members, the group recorded the 1995 album The Horizon and the Storm, the first of a series of yearly releases. From 1996 they released on the Italian label Underground Symphony. The 1997 released Dragon's Secrets received several positive reviews in metal magazines.Antonini also recorded a solo effort, When Water Became Ice, in 1998 in between Skylark releases.In 1999, they released the first of a two album project, The Divine Gates; the second half was released the following year. The group had several of their albums released in Japan, where they found critical success, particularly in the music magazine Burrn!They toured Europe in 2000 playing in Germany and headlined at the Rock Machina 2000 festival in Spain.After 2001's The Princess Day, the group embarked on a world tour, including dates in Japan.The group then went on a short hiatus, returning in 2004 with Wings, featuring Kiara Laetitia the new vocalist. After three albums on Scarlet Records, they contracted with Underground Symphony again in 2006. In 2007, they continued the Divine Gates project with a third release "The last gate". In 2007 "The last gate" hit the HMV Japanese Rock and Pop charts at No. 3 only behind Bon Jovi and Dream Theater staying in the Top 50 for several weeks. In January 2008, Skylark played the longest Pan China tour of History for a western band. They played seven headliner shows touching even Haerbin capital of Chinese Siberia, plus one supporting gig with Nightwish and Dream Theater in Beijing and one supporting gig in Shanghai with Nightwish. In May 2008 Skylark played for the first time in the United States and recorded a live DVD of their performance in Phoenix Arizona. This DVD "Divine gates part IV The Live Gate" hit position No. 4 in the HMV Japanese charts only behind Iron Maiden, Rolling Stones and Britney Spears. Skylark as of 2010 played 5 tours in Japan. In 2011 Kiara Laetitia leaves Skylark.The album Twilights of Sand stayed on the Japanese Amazon rock/metal chart for 30 days, occupying position number one for 10 day and position number two (only behind the new Van Halen release) for another 10 days. Twilights of Sand also reached the top 100 global chart remaining there for 15 days, reaching its peak at number 12 and ending 32nd in the second week of January (best western act ahead of artists such as Adele and Lady Gaga).
Album:
Here it is, what is supposedly the final Skylark album which comes 20 years after the band's debut. Soundwise it's a continuation of the previous album Twilights of Sand, meaning a fairly speedy foray into female fronted power-pop metal. It's difficult to name similar sounding bands but think later Nightwish crossed with a little Evanescence crossed with occasional doses of pop that wouldn't sound out of place (production aside) on the latest Taylor Swift album. As per usual with Skylark, the vocals and keyboards are pushed to the forefront in the mix with the guitar (aside from the occasional solo) essentially playing the same role as the bass. This provides a bombastic metal backdrop to the songs which are overtly pop rock in structure and delivery. This is really nothing different than what Skylark have been doing for the past decade, it's just turned up a notch and executed much better this time around than ever before. It may not be the most expertly produced record, but at least one can say that the band HAVE made improvements with each album in the production department. And that has always been a major criticism from everyone who has heard the band.Onto to the songs, there are 18 tracks which makes this album have issues with flow and makes difficult to take as a new full length especially considering there are several covers and remakes. Take all of this away and you only have 5 brand new and original songs. I have to complain a little about the covers, especially the two Bon Jovi covers (Shot Through the Heart and The Hardest Part Is the Night) not because I dislike the songs but because I love these songs so much. They got a Japanese female singer to sing these and that was a bad choice. These songs are not meant to be sung in broken English the way these are sang. Musically they are spot on to the original but there is nothing going on that brings anything new to the table. Really it only makes the songs worse because of the cringe worthy shrill, out of place vocals. The cover of the Cinderella classic Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) is another story. It's actually done acoustically and with the band's American singer, Ashley. Her voice has gotten even better (a calming, earnest vibe that her style brings to the table) and adds a modern pop touch to this song and I believe this could be a big hit if this was an American pop act and not an Italian power metal band. Ashley is mainly on the poppy and acoustic tracks in which her voice is suited for. The "heavier" songs have varying female vocalists who are sometimes "power metal-esque" in delivery and sometimes operatic ala Tarja Turunen.One drawback to the album is the excess of covers of Japanese (anime, presumably) songs that are sang in Japanese. This is nothing more than pandering to the Japan audience and shunning the rest of the world. These songs may musically be nice speedy slabs of symphonic power metal, but again, those vocals aren't doing anything for me. They might if the singer was actually GOOD, but the vocalist they used is basically mediocre in her performance. The only Japanese cover that IS good is the one that is sang in English by Skylark original male singer Fabio, who has returned for this album on a few songs. It sounds like what the band have done since 1995, which is playing melodic and very fast power metal with bombastic delivery and excessive double bass drumming. The other song Fabio does on the record is a remake of Crystal Lake from the debut, and essentially it's played EXACTLY the same as the original, only this time the mix is a thousand times less muddy than it was. It's a shame that Fabio's role was limited on the album.All of the actual brand new songs are great, actually. Just One Word (To Fall In Love) is a catchy mid-paced nod to early 90's pop rock acts such as Roxette and again could be a hit if not for Skylark's horrible distribution worldwide. The Kiss That Never Happened is the one song sang by a Japanese singer that is actually good. It's a very fast symphonic power metal track complete with Skylark's usual double bass and harpsichord combo. "The Run to the Sun" is the best song on this album and perhaps the best song the band has done in 10 years. It's a perfect combination of female fronted goth-rock and symphonic power metal with multiple time changes and exciting twists and turns. Not to mention actual RIFFS, something Skylark tend to not necessarily have in abundance. The only problem is it's so short and makes you want more. Overall the first disc of this album (I'm reviewing the 4 disc Italian press) does jump around a lot. Musically it goes between poppy acoustic guitar/piano songs (that sound like they wouldn't be out of place on a popular American pop band's album) and fast symphonic female fronted power metal with gratuitous double bass drumming and bass that is heavy in the mix. This is probably due to the band's bass player is also playing the rhythm guitar. Another complaint is that the rhythm guitars aren't nearly as crunchy and in your face as it was in years passed. There aren't a whole lot of guitar solos either which is strange, but when they are placed, they are quite technical and sublime feeling. All in all, if you liked what Skylark have been doing for the past decade, you will like this album as it is (mostly, there are exceptions) structurally the same thing they've been doing even if it the production/mix is better. Perhaps there are too many different singers overall, though. I would have liked to have seen only two or three maximum.
Disc 2, Eyes is an "extended version" of the EP they released in 2014 but strangely some of the songs that were on the first version are not on this. Basically this CD is a lot of the same songs from the first album remixed or sang with a different singer. There's also a few remixes from the last album. There are only two tracks on this disc that are NOT on any other album. The first is a remake of The Crypt of Monmarte from Eddy Antonini's solo album. This song is musically identical to the original only this time it's got a female singer. She does a wonderful job on this with her forceful yet sublime delivery that never goes into overblown operatic territory. The second is Feverish which is original singer Fabio Dozzo with a different band playing a very Italian sounding speedy power metal song that sounds like most Italian power metal acts from 1997-present. Of course, Fabio's voice is in top form and fluctuates nicely between mid range and very high falsetto.
Disc 3, The Road to the Light is a compilation album that differs greatly from the 2013 two disc compilation of the same name. It has zero unreleased material as it omits the one track from the 2013 version that was previously unreleased. The main difference in this version is that much of this compilation is taken from Skylark's Divine Gates albums and deletes all the songs sang by previous singer, Kiera. I'm baffled by this, but whatever. It's still nice to hear all of these songs remastered here.
Disc 4 is a complete remake of the Dragon's Secret's album. It does lack the fire that the original had BUT it's played exactly the same despite having mostly different musicians and the whole thing is sang by a very competent female singer. She has that overt Italian accent that were used to with this band but it works. She doesn't have a flashy style (mostly mid-range) but sings the songs the way they should be sang. Honestly, I wish this particular singer was on almost EVERY song on disc 1 because she is quite good. The fluctuating of singers on the main album is what gives it such a disjointed feeling. If it was just THIS singer (who has a voice with just enough power befitting a power-speed metal song) and Ashley (whose pretty sounding voice is that of a pop singer) the album would have a MUCH better feeling of cohesion and much better in terms of dynamics. Oh well.
Line-Up:
Roberto "Brodo" Potenti Bass (1994-present) - See also: ex-Eddy Antonini
Eddy Antonini Keyboards, Piano (1994-present) - See also: ex-Eddy Antonini, ex-Khali, ex-Time Machine (live)
Ashley Watson Vocals (2011-present)
Former members:
Fabio Dozzo - vocals/backing vocals
Kiara Laetitia - vocals
Nico Tordini - guitar
Carlos Cantatore - drums
Francesco Meles - drums
Federico Ria - Drums
Fabrizio "Pota" Romani - guitar
Tracklist:
CD1 - The Storm & The Horizon
01. Eyes
02. The Kiss That Never Happened
03. Crystal Lake
04. Just One Word (To Fall in Love)
05. マジンガーZ (Majingaa Z)
06. Don’t Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) (Acoustic Vers.)
07. The Run Towards the Sun
08. Shot Through the Heart
09. Tears (Acoustic Version)
10. Another Reason to Believe
11. The Hardest Part Is the Night
12. 離したくはない (Hanashitakuwa Nai)
13. Road to Heaven
14. 会いたかった (Aitakatta)
15. Santa Fe
16. さんぽ (Sanpo)
17. Carrying You
18. Bridges Are Burning
CD2 - Eyes (Extended Version)
01. 残酷な天使のテーゼ (Zankokuna Tenshino Teeze) (feat. Fu-ki & Noriko)
02. She (2015 Version with Mai)
03. 君をのせて (Kimio Nosete)
04. Love Song (2015 Remix)
05. Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)
06. The Crypt Of Montmartre (2015 Version with Helena Tironi)
07. The Kiss That Never Happened (Alt. Version with Valerya Vanth)
08. 残酷な天使のテーゼ (Zankokuna Tenshino Teeze) (feat. Mai)
09. Believe In Love (Special Version feat. Ashley)
10. Another Reason To Believe (Demo Vers. with Ashley)
11. Little Girl (Intro) (Remastered Version)
12. Little Girl (Remastered Version)
13. とべ!グレンダイザー (Tobe Gurendaizaa)
14. Rainbow In The Dark (Remastered Version)
15. Feverish
CD3 - Divine Gates Part V Chapter 1
01. Belzebú
02. Satan Arise
03. Dream
04. Welcome
05. Hurricane (Instrumental Track)
06. When Water Became Ice
07. A Star In The Universe
08. Why Did You Kill The Princess?
09. Twilight
10. Sleep
11. Night Of Pain
12. The Guardian Angel
13. Fear Of The Moon
14. The Princess' Day
15. Sands Of Time
16. Insanity Is The Truth
17. The Tears Of Jupiter
18. Follow Your Dreams
CD4 - Divine Gates Part V Chapter 2
01. The Temple
02. Creature Of The Devil
03. The Answer
04. Skylark
05. Waiting For The Princess
06. Light (Act 1)
07. Light (Act 2 - Intro)
08. Light (Act 2)
09. Light (Act 3)
10. Light (Act 4)
11. Princess Of The Snow
12. Dragon's Secrets
13. Tears (Bonus Track)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
