Marius Danielsen’s Legend Of Valley Doom [Part 1] (2015)

“The Legend of Valley Doom Part 1” is the first installment of a planned fantasy concept by Norwegian vocalist / multi-instrumentalist Marius Danielsen (of the band Darkest Sins). As you can probably guess it’s an all-star affair featuring vocalists & musicians from a wide variety of international acts from across the metal globe.
Notable names such as Timo Tolkki, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, Chris Caffery, Ross the Boss, Mark Boals, Edu Falaschi, Mike LePond, the legendary Robb Weir (Tygers of Pan Tang), and many other are featured throughout alongside leader & conductor Danielsen, as they deliver the storyline in grand, epic, power metal fashion.

If you love the sweeping, epic power metal of Avantasia, Rhapsody of Fire, Freedom Call, and Sonata Arctica, then without a doubt this album is going to be for you. However, there’s also very melodic passages akin hard rock, particularly its groove, and nice progressive interludes which will intrigue listeners outside of the metal circle.

Danielsen’s vocals are reminiscent of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson at times, and he literally soars with power and precision over these epic arrangements, especially impressive when paired up against former Judas Priest belter Owens on “The Prophecy of the Warrior King”, the much traveled (and excellent) Boals on “The Battle of Bargor-Zun”, and the leather lunged Mikael Holst on the speedy “Haunting My Dreams”.

Anthems are aplenty here, and one of the best is the raging “Mirror of Truth”, complete with some incredible vocals from Danielsen and hard driving arrangements. The title cut is about as epic as you can get, as symphonic keyboards, virtuoso guitar work and galloping rhythms form the framework for multiple vocalists to play their roles.

“Lost in a Dream of No Return” is quite catchy, as Danielsen & ex-Dark Moor & Fairyland singer Elisa Martin trade off amid sizzling guitar solos from Heavenly’s Olivier Lapauze and ex-Manowar gun slinger Ross the Boss.
For those who want a slice of straight forward, pedal-to-the-metal melodic metal, look no further than “Raise Your Shields”, a crisp barnburner with Boals taking the sole vocal and really running with it.

A project like this obviously takes a lot of time, effort, and love to put together, and Danielsen apparently worked on this first part for close to 10 years.
Not sure how long the second installment of ‘The Legend of Valley Doom’ will take to come to fruition, but I’m sure there’s plenty left of the tale to tell, and in the meantime, there’s enough epic & bombast here to hold us over for quite some time.

01 – Intro
02 – The Battle Of Bargor-Zun
03 – Prophecy Of The Warrior King
04 – Chamber Of Wisdom
05 – Mirror Of Truth
06 – Haunting My Dreams
07 – The Legend Of Valley Doom
08 – Lost In A Dream
09 – Raise Your Shields
10 – Free As The Wind
11 – Fallen Heroes Of Our Land
12 – Outro

Marius Danielsen – vocals, guitars
Peter Danielsen – keyboards, synths
Anniken Rassmusen – bass, vocals
Esa Ahonen – guitars
Ludvig Pedersen – drums

Vocalists:
Edu Falaschi (ex-Angra, Almah)
Tim Ripper Owens (ex-Judas Priest, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen)
Mark Boals (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Mask, Royal Hunt)
Jonas Heidgert (Dragonland)
Elisa C. Martin (Hamka, ex-Dark Moor, ex-Fairyland)
Alessio Garavello (ex-Power Quest, A New Tomorrow)
Kai Somby (Intrigue)
Artur Almeida (Attick Demons)
George Tsalikis (Zandelle)
John Yelland (Disforia, Judicator)
Simon Byron (ex-Crystal Empire, Sunset)
Mikael Holst (Timeless Miracle)

Guitarists:
Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius, Avalon)
Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
Ross the Boss (ex-Manowar, DeathDealer)
Robb Weir (Tygers of Pan Tang)
Tobi Kersting (Orden Ogan)
Jimmy Hedlund (Falconer)
Marco Wriedt (Axxis, 21Octayne)
Olivier Lapauze (Heavenly)
Felipe (Twilight Force)
Alex TheKing Mele (Kaledon)
Kristian Tjelle (ex-Nocturnal Illusion)
Gard Austrheim (My Decending Ark, ex-Fatty Sunroad)
Marius Danielsen (Darkest Sins)
Sigurd Kårstad (Darkest Sins)

Keyboards, Synth:
Peter Danielsen (Eunomia, Darkest Sins)
Alessio Lucatti (Vision Divine, Etherna)

Bassists:
Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian)
Mike LePond (Symphony X)
Ignacio Lopez (Skiltron)
Giorgio Novarino (ex-Crystal Empire, ex-Bejelit)
Marius Danielsen (Darkest Sins)

Drummers:
Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody of Fire)
Ludvig Pedersen (Darkest Sins)

BUY IT !
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