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Astral Kingdom - The Astral Kingdom review



Reviewer:
7.0
Band: Astral Kingdom
Album: The Astral Kingdom
Release date: October 2007


01. Face Your Demons
02. Escape Your Fate
03. The Astral Kingdom
04. Standing In The Light
05. The Field Of Honour

Last year it was Astral Kingdom's last demo "Into The Fire" under review, sounding like a new and inexperienced power metal band finding their proper feet. Half a year after that effort sees the band put out another demo under the same name as the band, "Astral Kingdom", and not a significant amount of things have changed.

Astral Kingdom are still a budding power metal band, all of the bare essentials they will need for later power metal life are here and growing nicely. We have nice, up-beat songs that carry a nice melody and will have you humming along such as the opening "Face Your Demons" - double bass drums are used well, singing and guitars are still not amazing but is not particularly bad either, they are both steady and consistent.

"Escape Your Fate" is a really great song; a heavier tone is taken here with a slight sing-along element in there for the chorus as well. It is the kind of cheery sing-along that gets trapped in your head, precisely the kind of music these guys aim to make. Whenever Astral Kingdom get around to recording a full-length album, this song should definitely be considered when choosing songs.

Some comparisons could possibly be made with Stratovarius, but Astral Kingdom still do not have the killer instinct needed to make an album that is both catchy and intense to captivate its audience. More speed and tenacity are still required if Astral Kingdom are going to catch attention though, they seem to require a kick up the rear, musically speaking of course, to really go and make some ballsy and heavy power metal.

Astral Kingdom know their music is not original, they just want to play music that they love to people that love this kind of music - and there is no harm in that at all. With this demo "Astral Kingdom", the band show they have grown in experience, not so much in the way of playing complicated music, but in the way of being able to write catchier and better songs. "Face Your Demons" and "The Field Of Honour" are both great songs, the latter showing a different, slower ballad side to the band, which works marvellously and of course the great "Escape Your Fate" show, this maturity.

It is always hard to see positive sides of bands when they sound so unoriginal and uninventive, but Astral Kingdom - as unoriginal as they are - have somewhat of an innocent charm about their music that makes it very likeable.





Written on 22.04.2008 by Member of Staff since 2006


Comments

Comments: 3   Visited by: 55 users
22.04.2008 - 14:58
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
i have listened to all three demos (hail to them they have them all for free on their pages ) and this one is the best of them imo...lets see to what they will grow one day
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My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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27.04.2008 - 20:22
GT
Coffee!!
Have just listened to the demo. It's better than their last one IMO. The vocalist are much better on this one, but he's still not giving 100 percent in the choruses it seems. Anyway I still like it.
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Dreams are made so we don't get bored when we sleep
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27.04.2008 - 22:13
Torelli

I'm suprised to see this band on a international website, I thought they were a little to local for that. I saw them live some years ago. Nothing special, but perhaps it's time to give them another chance.
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