sabato 11 aprile 2015

Lancer - Second Storm

Artist: Lancer
Album: Second Storm
Release date: April 10, 2015
Label: Despotz Record
Genre: Power metal









WHAT THIS IS ABOUT
Power metal from Sweden. They like Dungeons and Dragons, but not that much, so it's kind of a middle ground between the just-a-spoonful-of-sugar europower and the more aggressive sound of German speed metal. Which means that they're Gamma Ray, yes, but I like my glass half full. This is their second album, and they're on the same label as Crucified Barbara - big fan of them.

WHAT IT DOES RIGHT
Well, the songs aren't bad. They could with little effort win a contest for Helloween clones - listen to Behind the Walls and tell me you didn't check the writing credits. The fact that some of these songs sound like, well, 80s classics is quite impressive. More often than not you listen to cheap knockoffs, while Lancer are a competently crafted imitation.

WHAT IT DOES WRONG
There is not an ounce of originality in this album. Not a single idea in these nine songs hasn't been beaten to death in the past thirty years. At this point it's like archeology, Lancer sound like a band who sounds like a band who sounds like a band who sounds like a band who was inspired by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and had a singer capable of hitting very high notes.

VERDICT
I will never understand this kind of product. What's your target? People who really like a specific album and want to listen to another, identical album from a different band? That being said, Lancer are a very convincing replica. Teenager me would have liked them much more, because I was a dumb teenager who was into metal for the melodies and the high notes. These guys sound like they're actually good at what they do, which is a shame. I really, really, really hope they can find their own niche.

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