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On disc: Crystal Eyes



- Claudia Ehrhardt - 8 stars


www.crystaleyes.net







Chained

Chained
( Metal Heaven - 2008)


The Swedish metal outfit Crystal Eyes is around for many years and have already released several albums.
The quintet head intro Chained with Ride The Rainbow, a riff-based rocker. The riffing is a bit Accept-like... And somehow the Swedish revive the early / mid-80's and so you find reminiscences to bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Singer Nico Adamsen is doing good, sometimes I miss a bit power.. And soon it becomes clear that the guys don't try to create something new, they are based in 80's heavy metal and that's what they enjoy playing - and so they do. And so fans of 80's metal will enjoy the album too. At The Fire Of Hades the vocals are quite up-front, but not too much. Beside the riffing you get a short lead guitar part, also quite melodic - like the vocal lines. Then they stop dead and it's only acoustic guitars and vocals, but then they are back full force. The vocals remind me here a bit of Andy B. Franck (Brainstorm, Symphorce). A bit heavier is the following The Devil Inside, this one has a rock edge... And the sound is a bit 70's. The chorus is catchy and you soon will find yourself singing along. With Waves Of War you get a song about pirates and if you expect to find some similarities to Running Wild, then you are right. Balladesque starts Dying In The Rain, but then becomes a mid-paced rocker with heavy riffs. Singer Nico Adamsen has a good voice and also adds some aggressiveness, I only miss a bit the intensity here... More emotions. Another Accept-like rocker is Fighting, the up-tempo track is also a bit more aggressive then the previous ones. Last, but not least they present a ballad with acoustic guitars which has a slight epic touch and is almost anthem-like. A nice track to slowly faded out the album.
Okay, the Swedish aren't presenting anything new, they stick to their favorite sound and so this is an 80's heavy metal album. Everybody who thinks 80's heavy metal is the past, don't need to check them out! If you still listen to some of the old 80's heavy metal bands / albums, then give it a try!


8 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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