Kaledon - Legend of the forgotten reign chapter 3/The way of the light 3.5/5
Reviewed: 1-13-06
Tracklist:
1. The inexorable light
2. The glory starts
3. The angel
4. The hidden ways
5. In the eyes of the queen
6. Mighty son of the great lord
7. Voltures in the air
8. Lord of the sand
9. Black telepathy
10. Come with me
11. Break the chant
12. Sword on the shoulder
13. The way of the light
14. Great night in the land
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While Rhapsody, Holy Knights and Thy Majestie have been great since they were first introduced, it seems like a good portion of the Italian symphonic power metal bands started off a little slow and haven't been improving until the last few years. It all began with Dragonhammer's 2nd CD 'Time for expiation', then came Dark Horizon's 2nd CD 'Dark light's shades', and now Kaledon can be added to the list, as their 3rd CD 'Legend of the forgotten reign chapter 3/The way of the light' is a definite improvement over their first 2 CDs. The production is their best yet, Claudio Conti provides his best vocal performance, and the songwriting has greatly improved, making for a much more memorable and enjoyable CD.
One difference that has really stood out with 'Legend of the forgotten reign chapter 3/The way of the light', as opposed to their 2nd CD 'Legend of the forgotten reign chapter 2/The king's rescue', is they've done away with lengthy songs. In fact, the longest song (opener "The inexorable light") is just a little over 6 minutes, and the majority are around 5 minutes long. The exceptions (shorter songs) would be the calming instrumental "The angel", which features a soft and soothing guitar solo, the fast and ultra-catchy "Black telepathy" (also an instrumental), and the slow and atmospheric "The way of the light" that leads to the final track "Great night in the land".
But the exceptional highlights of the CD have yet to be mentioned. They include the powerful track 4 "The hidden ways", which follows the earlier mentioned instrumental "The angel" and gives off a deep epic feeling, the following track 5 "In the eyes of the queen" that is full of outstanding and catchy guitar work (first in a crunchy manner, then in a faster one), and the galloping track 7 "Voltures in the air". But there are really only a few fillers here, and I could easily list other highlights as well. So the CD is very good, and one aspect worth mentioning is the use of backing vocals, especially in the choruses. I'm not talking a choir here, but there are at least 2 vocalists who assist Claudio in a lot of the choruses. A positive aspect for sure, and one that calls out for me to join in.
I have a feeling that I will always have a soft spot for Italian power metal. I've been following many Italian bands since the late 90s and many remain some of my favorite bands in the overall genre. Kaledon has finally given me a reason to rank them with the bands mentioned in this review, and I admire them for sticking to the style they started with, but improving on that style. I think they'll be successful with all 6 chapters of the 'Legend of the forgotten reign' saga and I hope that the Italian symphonic power metal style becomes even more competitive and masterpieces begin to appear.
CLINT
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