Cryonic Temple - Immortal

Published November 17 2008

*=Staff's pick	Immortal Standing Tall Where Sadness Never Rests* Beg Me Freedom Calling Fear Of The Rage Time Fight To Survive Train Of Destruction As I Sleep Departure

Genre	Heavy/Power Metal	Magnus Thurin	Vocals
Tracks	11	Leif Collin	Guitar
Runningtime	51 Min.	Esa Ahonen	Guitar
Label	Metal Heaven	Björn Svensson	Bass
Release	21 November 2008	Hans Karlin	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Iron Savior, Judas Priest, Helloween

Swedish Metal warriors Cryonic Temple is back with their fourth album and this time with a new vocalist in the shape of Magnus Thurin (ex Mindscape). According to the press release his vocal style is influenced by Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate and Tony Martin. The outcome however is no way near these gentlemen since he sounds like a typical Power Metal vocalist of the mediocre kind. Even if his predecessor Glenn Metal (!) wasn't a vocal maestro either he definitely out conquers Magnus in my opinion.

I have always looked upon Cryonic Temple as a reasonable interesting band despite their lack of originality with the sole reason of their ability of writing memorable and catchy songs in an effective tempo. Despite the step down regarding the vocals my hopes of finding a couple of Heavy Metal gems was still there when listening to Immortal for the first time. I have given the album its fair chance by repeated listening sessions but that hasn't changed my first impression a bit; Immortal is by far Cryonic Temple's least interesting album.

The material is uninspired and the performance totally lacks passion and dedication. The melodies are dull and boring and the overall feeling is that the songs are written under pressure without quality control. Where Sadness Never Rests is the only track that reminds me of what they are capable of. That particular song has got a guitar melody reminiscent of Iron Maiden and a driving beat that makes my head nod and my feet stomp. Otherwise the songs pass totally unnoticeable which ultimately speaks for itself.

I don't know what really happened here since Immortal is a huge step down compared with their previous albums. What I do know is that they really should take their time when writing for their next album and wait until they have material worth recording. Another album with this poor quality and they will be quickly forgotten I'm afraid.

See also review of: In Thy Power , Blood, Guts & Glory

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
5	3	4	3	3

Summary
3,5 chalices of 10 - Hawk

I disagree, there are songs of character and structure like the title track, 'Freedom Calling' and 'Train Of Destruction'. The intensity and speed is still there, and in my opinion Cryonic Temple have matured, and stepped beyond the Power Metal cliche'. This album is more in the classic Swedish vein, a style bands like Overdrive, Heavy Load, and Silver Mountain perpetuated in the '80s. I have all Cryonic Temple releases, and even though I do prefer Glen Metal (Johan Johansson) on vocals, Magnus style now fits their new direction. //Michael the MettleAngel (7,5/10)