Saint Deamon - Pandeamonium |
Published May 14 2009
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Deception (Reaper) |
| Genre | Melodic Heavy Metal |
Jan Thore Grefstad
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 10 |
Andreas "Toya" Johansson
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 39 Min. |
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Guitar
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| Label | Frontiers Records |
Magnus "Nobby" Noberg
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Bass
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| Release | 22 May 2009 |
Ronny Milianowicz
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Drums
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| Country | Sweden/Norway |
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Keyboard
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| Similar artists | Dionysus, Nocturnal Rites, Helloween | ||
Saint Deamon's debut album was released early 2008 and now the follow-up is already here. This brainchild of drummer Ronny Milianowicz (ex-Dionysus and song writer for Primal Fear, Cans and Place Vendome among others) is a highly melodic Heavy/Power Metal outfit with a bunch of skilled musicians. Their first album entitled In Shadows Lost From The Brave was promising but some uninspired moments and a lack of diversity prevented me from praising the album wholeheartedly. The title track and above all the masterpiece No Man's Land (one of my favorite compositions in 2008) proved the great potential of this band when they are at their best.
Their brand new album Pandeamonium follows the beaten path where In Shadows Lost From The Brave left us. Those of you who liked the debut album will definitely embrace the follow-up as well. For my own part I'm a bit disappointed that no development whatsoever can be traced on the new album. Furthermore, the material is not as even this time around and a few fillers can be found. Tracks like Eyes Of The Devil and A Day To Come are totally uninteresting and without intriguing and memorable melodies. On the other hand they still know how to do it once in a while.
The big hit on this album is entitled The Only Sane which almost can compete with No Man's Land when it comes to utter melodic brilliance. Fear In A Fragile Mind is another definitive highlight with haunting melodies that has been stuck in my mind since I heard it the first time. Those of you with a soft spot for bombastic choruses in the vein of Rhapsody (Of Fire) will be more than pleased when listening to Oceans Of Glory as well.
The production on Pandeamonium was handled by renowned Roy Z and Jens Bogren and that's of course no disadvantage, the sound is top notch all the way; crystal clear and very well balanced. The performance is also without any flaws whatsoever. The overall feeling however is that the album feels a bit rushed due to the uneven quality of the songs presented. The best tracks are fantastic but there are also a couple of indifferent ones that disturbs a bit when listening. Still, a more than decent effort yet again from Saint Deamon but I really hope they wait until they have 10 standout tracks next time around. They do have big potential as earlier mentioned.
See
also review of: In
Shadows Lost From The Brave
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Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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8 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
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Summary
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6,5 chalices of 10 - Hawk |
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