CROW7 – Symphony Of Souls (2012)

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Germans CROW7, formed in 2005, have released two albums to date and did successful shows in center Europe, still, the band is relatively unknown for the masses.
Now they’re back with a new effort; “Symphony Of Souls”.

Musically, the quartet combines different styles into one pot, as they like to call it: ProMeRo (Progressive-Metal-Rock), which gives a good general idea about the band’s sound, but they add several other elements as old school Hard Rock, Sympho, Epic and a dash of atmospheric Metal.
On paper, this mix looks a bit odd and not easy to digest, yet more than interesting.
I have heard their previous albums in the past, more modern Hard Rock oriented (specially the first). On “Symphony Of Souls” the guys expand all the boundaries.

The musical mash-up Crow 7 attempted is laudable, even if sometimes not completely successful, perhaps due to the album’s length: fifteen songs and almost 80 min. of music seems too much.
Anyway, there’s many good moments to enjoy here.
The title track “Symphony of Souls” opens in a good way, remembering a commercial Savatage with a modern sound and a sympho touch. “Street Of Slaver” and “The Guide” both sport solid enough chorus hooks to make them stand out.
“Dirty Lies” is a really good rocking mid-tempo number that avoids slavish commercialism by adding a progressive touch to the chorus as well as some growled backing vocals that works well and original.
One of my favorite tracks is the semi-midtempo and pretty commercial “Great Spirit”, which has a verse much in the vein of Valensia/Valentine with a pulsating rhythm section and a rousing melody.
“Breed of the Crime” brings some appreciable metal credibility to its sonic output with nice symphonic keys and violins accentuating the back of the mix, while “The Final Ride” brings a burst of double-kick adrenalin.
“Where Do We Go Now” ends the the CD in a form of some kind of ballad, but this band does not write things in the traditional way, so this slow tune has its interesting tempo changes and abundance of keyboards and harmony vocals.

Crow7 offers in “Symphony Of Souls” a musical ride that blends many genres.
To give you a proper idea, basically this is intense progressive rock slathered with the slick, beefy production so popular today, peppered with sympho and metal punch to increase the intensity.
Stylistically, as said before, in parts the music has many points in common with Valensia/Valentine (Robby) works, or Valensia’s project Metal Majesty. Hard Rock and power chops also come out to play once in awhile, with the addition of some modern electronic effects as well.
All the band members are skilled musicians and the production & sound are impeccable.
So many artists are content to cower in the comfort zone and crank out exactly the same thing as a thousand bands before them, so kudos to Crow 7 for having the guts to go against the grain and attempt something adventurous.
Really interesting.

01 – Symphony of Souls
02 – Street of Slaver
03 – Shiva Sigh
04 – The Guide
05 – Kingdom of Calm
06 – Spawn of Evil
07 – Dirty Lies
08 – Virtual Reality
09 – Great Spirit
10 – Winter Breeze
11 – Breed of Crime
12 – Ocean of Fire
13 – Winner of the Quest
14 – The Final Ride
15 – Where Do We Go Now

Corbin Eved (vocals, guitar)
Seth Aban (guitars, backing vocals)
Gideon Vanth (bass, backing vocals)
Janus Mantus (drums)

BUY IT !
www.amazon.com/Symphony-Souls-Crow7/dp/B006M8HCN2