MAD HATTER’S DEN – Excelsior (2016)
Finland’s MAD HATTER’S DEN are presenting today April 8 their brand new album “Excelsior“. The band already have an EP and a full length released, but this is my first experience with the band. And it will last longer, for sure.
What I liked – and liked a lot – in Mad Hatter’s Den is that their brand of Euro melodic metal driven by a classic twin guitar presence is always embellished by copious amounts of synths / keyboards. This provides a true melodic feel to most songs.
Additionally, the band drops some progressive elements which turn things even more interesting. The songs in “Excelsior” feel mature and solid.
Blending some power with masterful melodic metal, ‘Hero’s End’ proves the band’s ability to vary tempos, but also declare that twin guitar harmony rules. For the progressive metal nuances, ‘Break The Chains’ offers a notable juxtaposition between heavy riffs in the first half that give way to a gentler turn, something more smooth after the midpoint.
Other tracks exploring melodic sounds and variation are ‘The Aftermath’ and ‘Not Of This World’.
Perhaps my favorite track on the album is ‘Birds Of Prey’, where the mentioned use of synths / keys make the band and the song sound like what early Kansas might have sounded like if they warped 30 years into the future and became a melodic metal band.
Another song of strong interest is ‘Masters Of Hate’ which can only be described as melodic metal in an AOR wrapper. It has a great rock groove, catchy melody, nice choral vocal arrangement, and the bass and drum lines are quite present.
Finally, you get a melodic metal anthem with ‘Guardian Angel’, a song that begins with voice and piano, before building to a larger, quick paced, finale with a soaring guitar solo, and it also features one of the stand-out vocal performances of the whole album.
Mad Hatter’s Den demonstrates in “Excelsior” they are one of the best Euro melodic metal bands out there right now. I mean, respecting the classic style of the genre: ’80s old-school. Anyway, the add a welcomed variation with some progressive twists, a couple of power metal touches but as said, always melodic and with great synth flourishes crystal clear vocals.
There’s not a weak track here, the guys are clean at their playing and production pristine. It’s surely only a matter of time before they make it big.
Strongly Recommended.
01 – Eye Of the Storm
02 – Break the Chains (Into the Black)
03 – Birds Of Prey
04 – Masters Of Hate
05 – Trail Of Fears
06 – Through The Unknown
07 – Guardian Angel
08 – Hero’s End (At the Silver Gates)
09 – Ascension
10 – The Aftermath
11 – Not Of this World
Vocals, Bass: Jarno Vitri
Guitars: Jaakko Hänninen, Kari Korhonen
Keyboards: Petja Puumalainen
Drums: Arto Pitkänen
BUY IT !
www.recordshopx.com/artist/mad_hatters_den/excelsior/#454654
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