Good power metal with an infusion of 80s' pop, feat. the power metal song of the decade.
You have probably never heard about Gunhild Mathea Olaussen. She is from Norway and plays the violin.
She also plays the most spine-tingling, entrancing violin melody I have heard in my life. And she does it on one of the best power metal songs I have ever heard, a track that could easily become my personal power metal anthem of the decade: Keldian's "Sundancer". But more on that later.
Keldian self-admittedly play music that has its roots both in 80s' pop music and metal, the metal being of the power variety, the pop having similarities to A-HA. Anyone who after reading this hasn't already turned away in horror and disgust may wonder if such a marriage of unrelated styles could work. I think it is a potential match made in heaven. Think about it: the beautiful melancholic vocal lines and ethereal synths of Norwegian electropop with a healthy dose of crunchy guitar, competent double-bass kickass drumming delivered by the drummer of Vreid and Windir, and good, professional musicianship all round? If done well, each of the styles can contribute to giving the other one a whole new edge, or even to realizing its full, as yet unknown possibilities.
The band almost manages to deliver fully on that formula. I say "almost" because, unfortunately, there is quite a lot of filler here that is a somewhat bland result of the recipe described above, done adequately, but nothing more: standard power metal drumming, power chords played in a somewhat chugging but not really riff-like manner, short solos, a one-tone synth in the far background and nondescript vocal melodies in a nice A-HAish voice, occasionally interrupted by parts that sound more like melodic pop than metal, all of it done with excellent production and packaged with a simple and tasteful cover design. Keldian's music has a kind of science-fiction-like vibe to it, not accidentally, as SF is Keldian's lyrical mainstay, and I admit that the lyrics and the general atmosphere go together well. About two thirds of the album are like this, and while this is pleasant and non-offending to the ear, it's nothing to write home about. It seems that Keldian, apart from some well-crafted, emotional, spacey synth interludes in the filler tracks, did not distribute their inspiration equally over the whole album, but instead allowed it to coagulate on four songs that deserve a closer description: the opener "Crusader", the ballad "Redshift", the proggy eight-and-a-half minute piece "Plains of Forever" that concludes the album, and the incredible "Sundancer".
The opener does the combination mellow pop/power metal really well; it starts with a standard rock 'n roll riff, introduces a vocal melody that could have made it big in the 80s' charts and successfully replicates an equally 80s-sounding synth melody on the guitar. Speaking of the guitar, Andresen does his stuff well, but don't expect a shredder; although it must be said that he plays a very good extended slow solo on "Plains of Forever". "Redshift" is pure pop, but it is one of the saddest pop ballads I know: a beautiful, melancholic song about the crew of a spaceship which leaves Earth never to return, forever leaving behind the crew members' loved ones (I suspect the song was inspired by a short story by Russian SF geniuses Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, from their "noon universe" cycle); with its combination of mellow male/female singing, beautiful guitar melodies and organ-like synths the song really manages to convey the sadness you might feel if you saw the Earth getting smaller and smaller from the observation deck of a generation ship, forever vanishing into the black. The structure of the song is quite fitting and helps getting the picture across: while it stays slow and steady, it gets louder and becomes more fully orchestrated towards the middle, like a big spaceship slowly letting its engines go to full capacity. "Plains of Forever", after a short intro, starts with a hard-rockish riff and a vocal melody that reminds me faintly of Dio, but after a few minutes mellows out and allows the band to showcase their ability to play extended melodic instrumental passages, which are done well in a bluesy, atmospheric style, in the second part of the song.
"Sundancer", now, is a triumph and an indication that if the band really gets its stuff together on the next album, Keldian could create a sensation. No other song on the album shows this well what a good taste in pop can do for power metal. It's the fastest song on here, with up-speed power metal drumming; with a beautiful verse melody and a wonderfully soaring chorus delivered in a flawless pop-style performance; with a pre-verse guitar riff born from genius; and, towards the end of the song, an all too short violin melody that must be the single most beautiful thing I have heard this year. How Ms. Olaussen manages to make her violin cry and sing like that, I don't know. This song is one of the all-time ultimate power metal achievements and would merit the purchase of this album on its strength alone. If the album only contained songs of this quality, a 100 percent rating would be kinda low.
Yet, with all the filler-ish songs which are neither special nor downright bad, I can't give this album more than 80 percent, and that number rests mainly on the impressive strengths of its standout tracks. Nevertheless, for anyone who isn't averse to pop and power metal on principle, "Heaven's Gate" is a purchase that you definitely won't regret.
80 / 100
Greysnow
Encyclopaedia Metallum, April 2008
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