Secrets of the Elder

Generic is a term used to define something that carries all of the traits of a well known artist, and perhaps maybe a slight tinge of individuality, but is obviously not the same band. It usually refers to a status of being more like something else already in existence than original, while the “clone” label would usually apply to someone who copies a style in its entirety. Since this rarely exists outside of being a tribute band, the clone label instead refers to something that has too much of another band’s sound in it and not enough of their own, which is a fairly subjective concept in itself. But regardless, the one constant is the quality of the product, thus it could be successfully argued that a band could be generic, yet still be good and worth a listen.

“Lorien” is about as generic as you can get within the European style of epic, melodic power metal. Most of their material is based on Tolkein’s work and other related fantasy stories, they place a great deal on their choruses and vocal lines, use the double bass power metal beat often, and utilize a good amount of keyboards for texture purposes. Most of their melodies resemble Celtic and Germanic folk music, tying in with the clichés popularized by Blind Guardian and Ensiferum respectively. In fact, the only thing on here that is stylistically different from most of the bands that play this style is that Jordi Tordera’s vocals have a heavier Spanish accent than Elisa Martin on her worst day. Comparisons to Dark Moor are obviously inevitable and highly warranted, but Jordi’s mellow squeaky clean vocals and fairly active bass work do provide a little bit of contrast to Elisa’s rougher and louder style.

The band often employs some Neo-classical clichés similar to what can be heard on Luca Turilli’s first solo album, usually during the guitar solo breaks, which are pulled off rather effectively. Parts of “Merlin the Wizard” almost sound identical to the medieval sounding folk ballad inspired “Forest of Unicorns” on the first Rhapsody album. “The Voice of Saruman” is a pretty solid speed metal epic that wouldn’t be out of place on Fairyland’s debut album, only without the bombastic orchestra, that is spearheaded with an ironically triumphant chorus considering it’s a musical depiction of a villain. In truth, this album mostly listens like a more keyboard heavy version of Dark Moor’s “Shadowland”, which lacked all of the big bombastic real orchestra sounds that both they and Rhapsody helped popularize in this genre. The best song on here is “Eternal Life”, which actually breaks from the Dark Moor style and invokes a sound more in line with the Finnish power metal sound, particularly Nightwish and Dreamtale.

People with a taste for the Spanish version of epic power metal will probably like this, particularly those who already have some of Dark Moor’s material and also have a like for the keyboard heavy Finnish variant of the genre. There are many bands out there that have a similar sound in this genre, some a lot more so than others, but most of them tend to get the job done where it needs it. Although Lorien might not be high on a lot of radars in the genre, they definitely bring something worthwhile to the table. It might sound generic, but it is among the better of the many generic acts out there.