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Morifade - Domi<>Nation


*
=Staff's pick

Parallells*
A Silent Revolution*
The Second Coming*
Words I Never Speak
Clarity (Fragments of a Dream)*
Panopticon
The Rising*
Erase
Memory's End*


Genre Progressive Power Metal
Stefan Peterson
Vocals
Tracks 9
Jesper Johansson
Guitar
Runningtime 47 Min.
Robin Arnell
Guitar
Label Karmageddon Media
Henrik Weimedal
Bass
Release 17 March 2004
Kim Arnell
Drums
Country Sweden
Fredrik Eriksson
Keyboards
Similar artists Edguy, Nocturnal Rites, Freternia, Stratovarius

Domi<>Nation marks the third instalment in the discography (disregarding their first MCD Across the Starlit Sky) of Swedish melodic power metal act Morifade and actually also their first appearance here on Metal Covenant. The band was formed over a decade ago but it wasn't until about five years later that their first studio recorded album, Possession of Power, was released. However, Domi<>Nation is a dark and thematic concept album based on the books 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and revolves around a possible future society where man is constantly monitored and controlled by the state. The album was produced by King Diamond guitarist Andy Larocque at Los Angered Studio in Gothenburg and his efforts doubtlessly marks this CD as the best produced one so far in the band discography. Absolutely splendid! The line-up has had some reinforcements since the previous Imaginarium too as former Tad Morose keyboarder Fredrik Eriksson has joined the ranks and his performance really makes a difference.

The Domi<>Nation melodic metal odyssey kicks into gear with the fast driven Parallels where an introductory impressive guitar riffage immediately hints that this album compiles some serious metal material and takes a firm but at the same time pleasant stranglehold. Accompanied by quite intense and dramatic keyboard work the song maintains its original speedy pace and of course also presents a very catchy and sing along friendly refrain. The guitar work sends serious nods to something Timo Tolkki would have produced in the highlight Stratovarius era around Epsiode and Visions and the entire song actually reminds quite much of that Finnish metal act and also some Edguy tendencies can be traced but the keyboards here are more in focus which also goes for the album as a whole.

The next outing, A Silent Revolution, begins with a calmer introduction before the double kegs once again are introduced and right along the Morifade song writing concept another memorable chorus strikes home. And so it more or less continues all the way and Domi<>Nation scores some numerous major cuts but I'll only individually mention those two. Throughout this whole issue we are treated to a solid mix of melodic progressive power metal that is catchy, full of great riffs, impressive keys, sing-along friendly melodies and some very memorable and infectious choruses and above all- a sovereign variety between the songs. Many innovative hours have been used on the composing schedule and resulted in some very creative decisions. On this album Morifade never rely on just one simple formula alone in neither song structure nor tempo and Domi<>Nation most certainly ends up as one of the most versatile metal experiences I've had recently. The band has definitely found very clever music solutions and many very well thought through and arranged passages that involve both instrumental and vocal instalments.

The guitar/keyboard interactions work splendidly together without any of the instruments stealing the show from one another when all is said and done and without having a very unique voice of any sort, Stefan Peterson's vocal delivery is still not close to copycatting or close resembling any other metal singer out there. That said, all the prime armaments in the Morifade arsenal of this time have been listed and I must admit that I'm way more than satisfied with the final result. The only real drawbacks are that the whole affair ends a little too fast and the vocals don't quite catapult the album to real stardom. With the capacity of this band a more epic and elongated cut would have been a real mind blowing manoeuvre and the vocals- however above average and also still quite unique- still sound perhaps a little too much standard and stops this show from pushing into the real high grade area.

But regardless of that and the fact that Morifade have taken a huge portion of the inherent Swedish melodic progressive/power metal into their fold I'd say that Domi<>Nation not only beckons to fans of that specific metal department where bands like Freternia and Nocturnal Rites also dwell but will most certainly also attract more deeply committed metal followers. Adherents of especially Edguy and Stratovarius in their better days will also have many a fine listening experience with this album and also gladly reiterate their action. Without ending up among the top 10 so far this year though Domi<>Nation is still a very good album that not for a long time will retire its highly convincingly listening factor. So I guess there's nothing more to do here except issue the following recommendation:

No try- just buy!


Production
Vocals
Compositions

9

7,5

8,5

 
Summary



8,5 chalices of 10 - Mat

Related links:

www.morifade.com