Divinefire - Glory Thy Name

*=Staff's pick	From Death To Life The World's On Fire Never Surrender* The Sign* Out Of The Darkness Pay It Forward Live My Life For You The Spirit* The Way Of Eternity

Genre	Symphonic Power Metal	Christian Rivel	Vocals
Tracks	9	Jani Stefanovic	Guitar
Runningtime	43 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Rivel Records	Andreas Olsson	Bass
Release	23 Feb. 2005	Jani Stefanovic	Drums
Country	Sweden	Jani Stefanovic	Keyboards
Similar artists	Stratovarius, Children of Bodom

Christian Rivel seems to have an everlasting source of time and energy. He is still most known as singer in Narnia. But 'on the side' he runs his own record label Rivel Records, sings in Audiovision, reunites with his old band Modest Attraction from time to time and now I'm listening to yet another band with Rivel as a singer, Divinefire. With him in this boat is Jani Stefanovic, who takes care of most instruments, except the base that is handled by Narnia- and Stormwind member Andreas Olsson. You can tell that Jani has brought some influences with him from Finland to this project.

Divinefire is dramatic, a bit symphonic but still fast and melodic metal. A breed of Children of Bodom and Stratovarius. To compare to Rivel's other bands you can recognise much of the melodies and choruses from Audiovision and Wisdom Call, but the arrangements and production put it in a totally new package. The keyboard is in the front of the sound, which gives it all a bit electronic feeling that not always is 'metal to the bone'. The drums feels also a bit programmed here and there, which doesn't help up the true spirit. The production is over all a bit light for this to aspire to the heavier divisions of metal.

The strength lies instead in the songs, which are nice arranged and have catchy melodies. If you know your Rivel you probably have guessed already that the lyrics are christian. But they are not frightening, judging or mastering, so even sensitive listeners can buy Divinefire without hesitation. The album starts with The World's On Fire, a fast and typical Rivel song. The tempo hangs on when Never Surrender fires of. Here are the choirs more apparent though, which sends a mystic 'power-metal-in-the-church'-spirit.

The Sign is of the more dramatic midtempo kind and stands out a bit in that way, when it is needed the most. The Freedom Call-like chorus is the strongest on the record. The best composition in its whole is epic and progressive The Spirit, a song that changes face and tempo a couple of times without losing intensity and theme. It is spiced with some growling parts from Hubertus Liljegren. It might be a bit scarce with seven tracks (plus intro and outro) but on the other hand it means that we don't have to put up with fillers and bonus tracks who only brings down the total grade. This is a genuine and even creation, with a clear and quite unique sound. A new album is already on its way. What else can you expect when you deal with Christian Rivel…?

See also review of: Farewell , Into A New Dimension

Production	Vocals	Compositions
5	8	9

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - David