Timeless - Dawning light 3.5/5
Reviewed: 9-8-06
Tracklist:
1. Reborn us
2. Dawning light
3. Judgement day light
4. Up above
5. U and us all
6. Let it rain down
7. All the reasons why
8. Beyond your time
9. Magik inside of you
10. Cancao do mar
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It's not often we hear of a metal band from Portugal, but this is one such case. Timeless and their debut 'Dawning light' are as fresh off the press as you can get, and thankfully the CD's style is one I'm into. I'll call them melodic/heavy metal with some power thrown in, but there's not a tremendous amount of speed. Symphonic/keyboard elements are present though, in a manner typical to what we hear from a lot of bands these days. But although these musical descriptions are surely sounding familiar, know that Timeless really has their own sound. I'll still throw out Last Tribe, Masterplan, Treasure Land, At Vance and Voice as comparisons however. In fact, the cover artwork of 'Dawning light' greatly resembles the artwork of Voice's 'Golden signs'.
The vocal department has been quite interesting for me and I strongly feel this is what's going to make or break the band. Vocalist Miguel Corte Real reminds me a lot of Jakob Samuel (The Ring, previously mentioned Treasure Land and others) with a dash of Bruce Dickinson, but he sounds a bit off on some of the heavier parts that require a lot of range. Admittedly though, while it took a few spins to get used to Miguel's vocals, I've quickly come to like his voice, especially in the slower or regular vocal parts (as opposed to the heavier). Backing vocals are both well done and an aspect that's quite present, most notable with the nice ballad "Up above".
As for the songs, there is not one that I don't like. Hitting the "skip" button doesn't even cross my mind while listening to 'Dawning light'. The upbeat opener "Reborn us" and following "Dawning light" (one of my favorites!) are very good. We get some moments of speed with track 3 "Judgement day light", which precedes the previously mentioned ballad "Up above" that's one of the CD's highlights for sure. Track 5 "U and us all" through to track 7 "All the reasons why" continue the offering of more than satisfying musical and vocal parts. But I must single out track 8 "Beyond your time" as my absolute favorite, as it's got such a cool rhythm. If feel the most emotion from the band in track 9 "Magik inside of you" (which features a short but sweet guitar solo!) and it's the perfect song to lead us to the pounding finale "Cancao do mar". This song is actually an Amalia Rodrigues cover (who I'm unfamiliar with), is sung in Portugese, and contains powerful guitar work.
This is a CD I hope falls into the hands of many heavy/power metal fans, although I am curious to learn how Miguel's vocals are received. One thing's for sure, Timeless showcase some top-notch songwriting and there are some spectacular musical passages and excellent performances to be found on 'Dawning light'. I'll call this one of those "very promising" debuts, which means you should definitely check it out. Great start guys!!
CLINT
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