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Shadowkeep - The Hourglass Effect review



Reviewer:
8.8

12 users:
8.5
Band: Shadowkeep
Album: The Hourglass Effect
Release date: November 2008


01. Shadow Keep
02. Incisor
03. Ten Shades Of Black
04. Riot On Earth
05. Six Billion Points Of Light
06. Waiting For The Call
07. As The Hourglass Falls
08. Leviathon Rising
09. Heart Shaped Stone
10. With Force We Come
11. How Many Times (Have We Tried To Save The World)

There are some bands which are not so famous and truly don't deserve it. I'm quite sure that not a lot of people here know Shadowkeep from UK but this is so unfair that I hope that my review will help them a bit to get more recognition. This band rocks and their new album "The Hourglass Effect" is a little jewel of aggressive Power Metal with strong Progressive elements. It's good to listen to such music and I hope that you'll agree with me when you'll put your hand on this CD (because of course, you'll follow my orders and buy it as soon as possible right?).

If you like blasting rhythmic and thrashy riffs, I'm convinced that you'll like a lot "The Hourglass Effect". The album is full of great guitars riffs which cut like a razor but Shadowkeep is also a Progressive band and those songs are all really complex with a lot of different passages and breaks. This is something effective and not really "crazy" like some Prog combo can be but if you like bands like Nevermore I'm certain that "The Hourglass Effect" will have a really positive effect on your ears. I'm not going to say that Shadowkeep music is the most innovative and surprising one but really the guys have great ideas and I like their influences which come (I think so) from bands like Queenrsÿche or Helstar. This nice melting pot of aggressive US Power Metal with 90's Prog works perfectly and I recommend you to try first a real Prog track like "Shadow Keep" and then something a bit more violent like "Waiting For The Call" to understand the music of the band. If you like those songs then you'll like the whole album which doesn't have any letdown.

The production is good and I'm impressed by the performance of the guys too. The singer has a really good voice and we're at the top of the top in term of compositions and musical skill. This is really good because "The Hourglass Effect" is a powerful album which doesn't lack of good melodies and tempo but which is also truly Prog. This release can be a perfect way for the Proghead to listen to something thrashy and for the other ones to discover what good Prog Metal is.

"The Hourglass Effect" is an excellent discovery for me. Believe me this album deserves all your attention, this is intelligent, not redundant and full of great riffs. I hope that Shadowkeep will find a way to tour all around Europe now because I want to see that live and I hope that you'll have this feeling too. "The Hourglass Effect" is a classy release and I promise you that I will keep an eye on this band, Shadowkeep deserves it!


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 8

Written by Jeff | 03.12.2008




Comments

Comments: 12   Visited by: 170 users
03.12.2008 - 10:46
rohgue123

The singer kind of reminds me of Ozzy. And the guitars really shred. Good Stuff.
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God has a hard-on for me.
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03.12.2008 - 15:41
iaberis
Advice Troll
That's a freaking awesome cover! I could buy the album just for that!
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Bitch! Please
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03.12.2008 - 15:46
Arcesse Eum

If its like helstar, i will look into it
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As above, so below.
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03.12.2008 - 16:39
ponderer

Did you mean Queensrÿche and Helstar? You peaked my interest sir so I'll check into this.
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03.12.2008 - 19:45
Introspekrieg
Totemic Lust
Written by iaberis on 03.12.2008 at 15:41

That's a freaking awesome cover! I could buy the album just for that!

I know right... just kickass design. Will check it out...
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03.12.2008 - 20:44
Spyroid
Rosetta Stoned
I listened to one song on their myspace, and it's pretty good, atleast the guitars are nice. The singer has listened to Ozzy a lot... but he also reminds me of Ralf Scheepers. The production is to "US PM" for me, but it's not bad
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06.12.2008 - 11:05
Rating: 10
Hellish Star

Great review, fantastic album that will end on the second place in my year list, after - of course - HELSTAR...

I saw these guys (and girl) a few weeks ago on stage. It was a good gig but unfortunatly they didn't play old songs like "I believe", "Seventeen" and "Dark tower"...
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www.myspace.com/hellishstar

Metal To Infiity Webzine: http://users.telenet.be/metaltoinfinity/MTIindex.htm
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06.12.2008 - 19:32
Carrion Misery

Excellent review. You sold me to check them out. It is definitely power-prog. I can hear the "Ozzy" part in the vocals like people have said here, but I don't think its that dominant. I enjoy how his voice has evolved into its own. It sounds original. Great band. I'll be telling others about them.
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? Carrion Misery
www.mournspire.com | Two-Man Death Doom Project
Full album streaming
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07.12.2008 - 18:27
Hammer34

Your review is right on, these guys really have a "fresh" take on progressive power metal . . . checked out their myspace clips, the guitars really pop, the riffs and melodies are energetic, very different than a lot of paint-by-numbers classic metal bands. The one thing holding them back for me is the singer. He's talented, nothing wrong with him, I was just disappointed they went for that streotypical, prog-metal, Ray Alder/Geoff Tate style of vocals. That's the one thing that makes them sound like a lot of other bands and detracts from their otherwise "revitalized" take on prog power.
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24.03.2009 - 19:43
Rating: 9
Ag Fox
Angel No More
Nice find here. I like this album (=

check out the hi-res album art here:
http://www.melissarecords.com/shop/catalog/images/Shadowkeephourglass.jpg
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loves 小巫
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08.12.2011 - 03:51
Slinky666
Account deleted
Sometimes I was jealous of the older generation, they had great music and good time. Bands like this make me feel better.
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24.12.2011 - 20:31
RavenKing

Are vocals as annoying as on "Corruption Within"?
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They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink
They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end
But everybody's only looking out for themselves
And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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