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""Tales Of Fire And Ice" offers us a heavy speed metal of a great classicism, saved by the unifying energy of a stainless Marta Gabriel."
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3/5
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A little more than a year after having hastily produced the anecdotal "At The Edge Of Time", a fake EP or real single that didn't bring much, Crystal Viper offers us today the real successor of the acclaimed "Queen Of The Witches". What to expect or hope from this seventh effort?
Unsurprisingly, Crystal Viper never leaves the path they've been ploughing for about fifteen years, namely this heavy metal with high-pitched vocals and cavalcades of guitars, the whole hammered by a tempo well speeded up and adorned with heroic fantasy charms. The only originality lies in the female voice which tells these warlike and legendary tales within a musical universe that is usually rather male.
Bigly efficient, the recipe seduced us when the quintet released its second album, "Legends" (2010) but now seems more and more dated, as illustrated by this "Tales of Fire And Ice" whose content is as banal as its title. The sound recording has remained blocked in the previous decade and the compositions are therefore content to criss-cross an already well-worn ground. The best track (as a bonus) remains 'Dream Warriors', a racy mid tempo that the band unfortunately didn't write because it's a cover of Dokken! Apart from this well felt rereading, all is not to be thrown away in this record which will undoubtedly please the fans.
Tracks such as 'Crystal Sphere', 'Still Alive' or 'Bright Lights' can be listened to without displeasure. Perhaps a sign of a lack of inspiration, since they are in fact taken from the meagre repertoire of Börn Again, a parallel project by Marta Gabriel for which they are the only trace on the record, 'Neverending Fire' and 'One Question' nevertheless hit the bull's eye, the first in an extremely melodic register, the second in machine-gun mode. It is however when the band retract his claws that he captivates perhaps the most, the time of the very beautiful 'Tears Of Arizona', sensitive whisper to the romantic curves.
"Tales Of Fire And Ice" offers us a heavy speed metal of a great classicism, saved by the unifying energy of a stainless Marta Gabriel. But what will be left in a few years' time if not the vague memory of yet another album in the career of an otherwise endearing combo condemned to vegetate in the second division? - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Prelude 02. Still Alive 03. Crystal Sphere 04. Bright Lights 05. Neverending Fire 06. Interlude 07. Under Ice 08. One Question 09. Tomorrow Never Comes (Dyatlov Pass) 10. Tears Of Arizona 11. Dream Warriors (Cover Dokken - CD Bonus) 11. Alone (LP bonus)
LINEUP:
Andy Wave: Guitares Blaze J. Grygiel: Basse Eric Juris: Guitares Marta Gabriel: Chant / Guitares / Piano Tomasz ' Golem' Danczak: Batterie
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