Band:	Dark Illusion
Album:	Beyond The Shadows
Style:	Hard rock, Power metal
Release date:	2005

01. Night Knight
02. Child Of The Night
03. Warrior
04. Power Of The Evil
05. Reaper Of Souls
06. Into The Depths
07. Secret Journey
08. Weeper Deeper
09. Sensational Walk
10. Tragedy
11. Leave No Traces
12. Runaway On The Loose
13. Break The Chains
14. Warlord Of The Night
15. Mysterious [Japanese bonus]

My friend Andre aka Monowasp was the designer of "Beyond The Shadows" and he naturally came to me one day to say that I should have a look on this CD. I had a look on some samples and understood quickly that it was something for me. I got the album from the band and now that I have the CD in my hands I can tell you something guys and gals, if you like classy Hard Rock (80's) if you like NWOBHM and great Power (not the cheesy stuff that we can listen to nowadays) this album will be for you. No, I'm not joking, this is just truly amazing!!!

Do you want to know why I like this album? Well I will tell you why? "Beyond The Shadows" is the perfect mix of all the music that I like. Just imagine that we're in front of some great musicians who knew how to mix the sound of the 80's with the one of the 21st century. The music of Dark Illusion flirts with NWOBHM, with Melodic Hard Rock and with Power Metal and if like me, you started to listen to Metal during the 80's I'm sure that you'll be touched by the music of Dark Illusion. It sounds like some Swedish Power Metal, really melodic but also fast and with a lot of catchy melodies. But evidently there are a lot of similarities with bands like Saxon or Iron Maiden with in addition some strong touches of Hard Rock (the bluesy sound of the guitars sometime help a lot to confirm this feeling). It's maybe not super original on a side, but believe me it works perfectly.

The band was formed in the 80's but they only released this album in 2005, though some songs were written in the 80's too and really sound authentic. The lyrics are a bit cliché ok, but here again, it fits perfectly with the music of the band. And by the way, I cannot talk about the lyrics without talking about the magical singer of the band, Mr Thomas Vikstrom (Ex Candlemass, Brazen Abbot, Stormwind, Talk Of The Town). I'm serious he is one of the best singer that I had the luck to listen to lately and I'm not joking.

The production is perfect, it doesn't sound old and the artworks are just excellent (no, it's not some ass-licking to Monowasp ), just have a look on the cover and you'll understand why I'm saying that. Really, this is the perfect CD for the fans of this kind of music with some super Heavy songs like ballads, believe me you'll keep those melodies in your head for a long time.

I'm maybe a bit nostalgic, but I like this album and I'm sure that a lot of people, young like old, will enjoy this excellent CD and I don't have anything else to add actually. "Beyond The Shadows" is just highly recommended for all the ones who like classy Melodic Metal.