HARMONY – Theatre Of Redemption (2014)
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Back in early 2000, a young guitar player Markus Sigfridsson and his friend Tobias Enbert, on drums, created the whole creative concept behind this stellar musical entity called HARMONY, a Swedish melodic metal band with a slight prog tendency crafted under an ultra melodic prism.
Fast forward to late 2014, “Theatre Of Redemption” it’s Harmony third offer and it features as guest one of the most reputed vocalist from Sweden, the one and only Daniel Heiman (Lost Horizon).
If fact, the only remaining members are founders Sigfridsson / Enbert, with keyboardist John Svensson and bass player Raphael Dafras joining then two yeas ago. The hardest task fo Harmony was to find a proper singer. Well, Daniel Heiman accepted to record all the album as guest, and man, this has raised the bar for Harmony’s “Theatre Of Redemption”.
Heiman has imbued to the band’s trademark melodic metal some commercial AOR elements to their sound. The singer, highly regarded from fronting the first two Lost Horizon albums, brings a wide ranging and expansive middle to upper register style oozing of professionalism and emotion.
Those new Harmony Melodic Rock / AOR flavorings manifest themselves on “Inhale”, a bluesy melodic hard rocker aligning trenchant guitars and keyboards to create a stately effect (radio friendly is the first thing that comes to mind) and “What If”, highlighting the greater keyboard presence and penchant for the reserves and laid back (a catchy ’80s edge comes to the forefront accordingly).
What the two have in common are abundant layers of backing vocals, which lends to the commercial aura at hand. Not in vain the band is called Harmony.
“In Search Of” showcases a more upbeat tempo in sustaining the accessible focus from its uplifting chorus and feel good vibe. Ballad “You Are” manifests a lighter touch, as grand piano leads the way with understated traces of rhythm guitar and a breathing bass line to define the emotional scene. The song finds Heiman singing in a lower register showcasing his awesome versatility.
But Harmony is still melodic metal and this reveals itself on “The Window Of My Soul”, an exquisite aligning of smoothly refined propensities and ardent junctures driven at the more assuming tempo, and the catchy “Crown Me King”, with its excited forthright guitars but lushly orchestration in yielding a swarthy environs. What the pair has in common is the use of double bass to lend a power metal aspect.
“Hands Of Time” preserves the guitar driven basis in trending somber and darker territory, as rumbling intrepid qualities contrast with glistening vocal melodies of a more polished nature. I particularly enjoy the choir-like (almost classically inspired) passage that helps close the song.
The adventurous instrumental parts in “Theatre of Redemption” are emblematic of the tightness and the exigence of the technical side in Harmony. The lead guitar spots are blistering and the duality with the keyboards is perfectly merged in the absolute Rising Force reference.
The stunning guitar work of Sigfridsson is inspired by ’80s Yngwie and Axel Rudi Pell, but less neo-classical and more traditional, in the classic way.
On “Theatre Of Redemption”, Harmony has created their best and more complete album.
It starts with songwriting, honed to a polish with its accomplished hooks / melodies blended with refined musicianship and some intricate (but not boring) arrangements, crowned by an immaculate production.
This last assessment is one of the highlights of the album, the production and mix by Fredrik Nordström is crystal clear, clinical.
Fans of melodic metal with power and progressive facets but also a melodic hard rock pinch should check Harmony’s “Theatre Of Redemption”, an effective, rocking, and basically one of the most interesting albums of 2014 for the genre.
01. The Window Of My Soul
02. Inhale
03. Crown Me King
04. Son Of The Morning
05. What If
06. Theatre Of Redemption
07. Bloodbound
08. You Are
09. Hands Of Time
10. In Search Of
Daniel Heiman (ex-Crystal Eyes, Lost Horizon) – Lead Vocals
Markus Sigfridsson – Guitars, Vocals, Keyboards, Programming
Raphael Dafras (Almah, Seven Horizons) – Bass
John Svensson – Keyboards
Tobias Enbert (Darkwater) – Drums
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