Into the Enchanted Chamber
2005
Massacre
Power metal in the 2000's was already hoisted as cheesy and very poppy, with very strong fluctuations of quality. On the negative side of that end we have an album like this. Into the Enchanted Chamber is the epitome of banality. To it's contrived, bouncy riffs to the simple songwriting, this album exudes everything wrong with the decade's power metal.
Also, keyboards. I for one am a fan of keyboards used in music, especially rock and metal. Keyboards, here played by a one Fredrik Nilsson, are done in an almost robotic way, and only exist to sort of keep a fake-sounding elated atmosphere of the album going. These combined with the violins, makes for nothing short of an album fit for a soundtrack, and I mean that in a certainly negative way. Minus the already over-exuberant vocals of Mikael Holst, Into the Enchanted Chamber is an album whose over-the-top songs would fit perfectly into the background of a movie or video game action scene of a B-rated production. And as I said before, I don't mean that in a good way. That aspect further brings away from the awe-inspiring sound that I've come to expect from the power-metal scene, especially Dragonforce when it comes to that decade. Unnecessary and grandiose symphonics don't equate to epic material, and the Achilles' heel of this album is the failure to recognize that.
The hackneyed, family-friendly atmosphere of this album unfortunately made for a listening experience that really turned this one into a disappointment for me. There actually is skill with the band, and I think with the right attitude and sound Timeless Miracle would've been able to get the epic, adventurous sound that they easily could have. Perhaps with less keyboards.
Written for Metal Music Archives' July 2016 Reviewer Challenge.
2016 - The Frying Pan & Thatcher
Originally written for Metal Music Archives on 7/14/2016.
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