Heavenly - Carpe Diem

This is however, in my ears, quite mediocre and there are not many moments of good music to be found here. While the previous release showed very good potential with distinct songs and melodies, this is merely a mishmash of flamboyant ideas that do not work as a whole. Quite often it is very musical-like, with some Queen vibes and theatrical elements, and that can be brilliant if it's done in a good way, but just like Sonata Arctica have managed to end up astray and lost in that jungle on their last albums, Heavenly feels to be heading the same way on this album.

There are no real highlights here, only fragments of quality, but way too few to spark an interest in me. A riff here, and bridge there that works well, but as a whole this is flat and weak compared to before. The best song here is not even as good as any one on the past two albums, and then I don't see the use of listening to this one if you already own their previous recordings. Farewell is close to being one of the worst song I have heard in this genre in many years. Benjamin Sotto has a special voice that works most of the time, but when singing high notes which is not really suited for him, it it close to embarassing to listen to.

You know how some bands are accused of being Helloween clones without actually sounding one bit like Helloween (early Helloween, that is, which is the role model for this comparison)? Well, in the song Ode To Joy, Heavenly definitely takes the ultimate price. It is remarkably similar to anything that could have been on for example Keeper Of The Seven Keys II, and since I don't like that era with that band, and I am no fan of the Michael Kiske type of vocals either, I quite frankly think it stinks.

Even though Save Our Souls saves the whole thing from being a total fiasco at the finish line, this album is still to be considered a major disappointment.