Band:	Excalion
Album:	High Time
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	January 2010

01. Enter A Life
02. From Somewhere To Anywhere
03. Sun Stones
04. The Flags In Line
05. Bring On The Storm
06. The Shroud
07. Firewood
08. Lifetime
09. Quicksilver
10. A Walk On A Broken Road
11. Foreversong

After almost three years of wait after the release of Waterlines Excalionhave returned to improve on what I thought would be close to impossible to improve on and now I am happy I was wrong.
Waterlines was released back in 2007 and took the band to a new level. Now with the release of High Time the band made it clear that they haven't lost their touch.

Already the first glimpse on the performance of the band tells that they have been just improving. I would have to say that each of the band members just performs worth a full ten. Especially Jarmo Pääkkönen proves once again his great singing capabilities.
High Time shares with us eleven new songs that are all really versatile. Each one sounds different compared to the other Excalion songs so far. All f them are strong alone but together they build something that is far more than just the sum of its parts. High Time was a bit happier and more energetic than their previous albums but the main reason for this, I believe, is the increased use of keyboards. This album is filled with melodies even more than their other creations and, surely, no fan of Waterlines will feel lost in this jungle of wonderful vocal melodies combined with great band performance. The songs are well done and this album doesn't have a single second of anything useless.

It has been said that Excalion is not an original band but once again I am impressed by the fact that they were able to make a unique and well functioning combination of old and familiar elements of various styles. For instance the song structures are all something that have never been heard before even if the elements aren't new. The highlight of this album is the song "A Walk on a Broken Road", the only ballad on this album. A song filled with beautiful melodies, majestic keyboards, calm atmosphere and catchy vocal parts. The lyrics actually touched me and the performance is flawless.
The production is superb with the clear sound and all elements can be heard perfectly. The only aspect that could have been done differently are probably the guitars. They are really fine but it would be interesting to see how Excalion would sound if they added a bit more kick to the guitar sound.

Overall this may be the best melodic metal record ever made. I have certainly found my new favourite album and I can't think of any reason not to recommend it to all fans of the genre. In my opinionExcalion hasn't released its full potential and I am already looking forward to their next masterpiece.