A Dark Enchanted Crystal Night

There are certain things about the late 90s and early 2000s power metal scene that have been sorely missed, particularly out of the likes of German mainstays like Freedom Call and Gamma Ray. The output has been replaced by something that has been sufficient and entertaining, but not a real continuation of the majestic brilliance of “Somewhere Out In Space” and “Stairway To Fairyland”, two albums that can arguably stand toe to toe with both of the famed “Keepers” albums that helped launch the European variant of the genre. But there is definitely something to be said for doing some digging for shinier diamonds while simultaneously hoping that the better known jewelers will get back to their respective fortes.

For the would be treasure hunter, an astounding discovery is to be found in the repertoire of younger and still little known purveyors of all things catchy and fast Crystallion. Here lay a band with all of the winning aspects of the sound, from the familiar chorus and riff clichés, the pristine mixture of clean vocals and keyboards to complement the mostly orthodox speed metal tendencies, wrapped into a surprisingly humble package. This debut album, with a predictably fantasy based title in “A Dark Enchanted Crystal Night”, is actually a monumental example of how good songwriting can rivet the ears of a power metal hound just as much as inhumanly high vocals and 3 minute guitar shred fests, both of which are not really to be found on here.

Of all the bands to come out of this style, this is a band that successfully merges the Saxon concept of being epic and grandiose without becoming pretentious, while stylistically only making passing references to the early 80s era before Helloween. There is definitely a hint of Dio, Accept, and Iron Maiden to be found in some of the introductory and breakdown material, but the power metal side of the band’s stylistic equation is far more dominant than the traditional heavy metal side. Furthermore, while vocalist Thomas Strübler isn’t striving to shatter windows with every single note on here, his moderated tenor voice borders on crooning and tends more towards the smooth Chris Bay approach than the gritty semi-shouts of earlier metal acts which have a very visible influence on Kai Hansen and other German acts.

This humble approach encompasses the entire process and every participant. The keyboard work largely avoids the indulgent lead breaks common to Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica, while the guitar leads tend to resemble the slower, singing quality of Iron Maiden circa 1988 with occasional fits of shred that are tempered and brief. The songs are long, but play more on gradual development rather than compressing together a number of contrasting sections with significantly different feels. Sure, a solid bass intro followed by a sectional homage to “Heaven And Hell” kicks off a rather intricate duet in “The Final Revelation”, and both “Dragonheart” and “Visions” take the long road and develop quite a bit, but formally every song on here is very easy to follow, to their credit.

For the most part, even when things go long, everything seems to go by too fast due to the songs being so much fun to listen to. “Eternia” and “Crystal Clear” are monumental examples of how metal music can be almost happy sounding enough to rival certain pop oriented versions of punk and hard rock, though the speed factor goes above and beyond anything either genre would ever conceive of. A good analogy could be pointed to in a number of faster songs on “Keepers 2” such as “Eagle Fly Free” and “Time Marches On”. But whether the key is major or minor, the overall mood is one of triumph that doesn’t let up from beginning to end, hampered to a very small extent by a somewhat lo-fi keyboard production, which is cleaned up on later efforts.

While the quality of this album is beyond question, its appeal is fairly limited to the lighter fringes of the metallic spectrum. Anyone who is insistent that the character of an epic album needs to be defined by the hard-edged grit of Manowar and middle-era Bathory this is probably not the album to go to for. Then again, this is an album that avoids the over-the-top theatrics and niche/gimmick themes that some complain about in bands like Turisas and Alestorm. This is good old fashioned good vs. evil with good triumphing in the end, just the way I like them in this style and context. If anyone wonders where all the magic that defined the late 90s German power metal scene went, a good amount of it can be found here.