Divine Gates Part III: The Last Gate

Playing heavy metal isn’t that hard; playing good heavy metal is, but some bands just don’t have that in mind. Heavy metal’s effeminate cousin, European power metal, houses some of these laughably bad bands: Rhapsody (Of Fire, whatever), Axxis, Pink Cream 69, Stratovarius (to certain extents), etc. The worst of the bunch though is Skylark because of how impish and fake it sounds. Essentially, this is pop music shrouded by a veil of incredibly flaccid symphonic power metal – we’re talking power metal that’d make Luca Turilli shrink back and cringe. What annoys me the most is the slut on vocals, but her back-up boy band also has a few issues that make this album soggier than the Apple Jacks I’m currently eating.

All right, I know bands love bringing over a hooker that does cheap bicycle rounds in the neighborhood, but to use them for recordings is just downright low. Female vocalists I don’t have a problem with anymore like I used to, but this one just stabs me in the gut with a USB stick every time she opens her mouth. Whereas Liv Kristine from Leaves’ Eyes has the most synthetic, Barbie-like singing, Kiara has a teenage voice that sounds really, really phony. It’s like she’s acting the entire part, with some sloppy, rare screams and high-pitched wails thrown in that crash my other running programs on my computer. Every ounce of energy she puts into these vocals does nothing but scratch the surface of my emotions, though mine are made of steel so she’ll never really get to them. Kiara isn’t poignant, joyful, or grandiose as I was told; they’re just there, filling in between coke snorts and inhaling dust. The sparse male vocals also have no purpose with their ghostly, distant howls. Didn’t they get their memo from Sweden’s Dismember that no ghost is holy?

Throwing these vocals into a mix of jumpy power metal with guitars that sound inferior to the sound of paper being ripped only brings that palm closer to the face (with a sigh right behind it). Skylark for sure intended to pack this album full of ebullient solos, tuneful melodies, and some ounce of muscle, but all of it couldn’t be more inflated. Solos I’ll give a nod to, as some of them are damn catchy like on “Time,” but then I have to force myself to look at the whole picture. That solo may be sweet, but the rest of the music twirling around it comprises of droopy keyboards, sore vocals, really fucking retarded lyrics, and drums with a callous ricochet attached to it. The worst of it is on the two "Mt. Fuji" songs at the end, with the acoustic one causing me to lose my appetite. I swear, those songs have such bullshit melodies with no personality to it whatsoever. Kiara singing about Mt. Fuji on these garbage tracks just reeks of money, attention, and snobbish ego without any trace of a competent voice to back them up. This may be pop, but Kiara certainly doesn’t have a moneyed voice to be on the level of many pop stars.

Turning attention toward the traitors (the males of the band) that make everything else happen, I must say that these guys have the very basics down. With a capable vocalist, we could have seen an album with some hint of value and reason to breath. Power metal should suck in every bit of air with a mighty inhale on every breath, but the way Skylark is, I’d equate it to a panting, retarded mule. Not mentally challenged, but like if Tom G. Warrior from Celtic Frost recorded himself huffing after losing in a poker match or something. Production really doesn’t help, and don’t let anyone fool you, either. Nothing about this release is polished or crisp – it’s pop music that isn’t produced like pop music. I should be hearing drums beefier than all the beef products in my fridge combined, but I hear clunky snares that rival Dream Theater’s snare sound on Images And Words. The drumming itself is very stale pattern wise, with nothing but beat keeping rhythms on an elementary level. Bass support also gets shunned as it’s poorly mixed between the end of the guitar feedback and the metallic drumming. Not like I was expecting anything worthwhile, either, since all the songs (instrumentals aside) seem to focus specifically on the vocals and those choruses that everyone loves to hear over anything else in the song.

Anybody who plays guitar will feel like putting it down for a while after hearing this guy. The riffs he plays are simplistic and bouncy, with hardly any shredding power or proficiency. Solos I know he can get something out, but these riffs again sound lighter than shredding paper and do nothing but fill for Kiara’s soulless singing. The harmonies have a slight neoclassical tinge, but I catch more old school heavy metal influence that hasn’t really died. Edguy can get that shit down right, but these guys just mess around too much with the melodies and saturate every capable line they take. The keys rear their ugly roles in more than once, striving to make the music classier; if only bands realized that doing this makes the music more appealing to kindergarten children.

That’s it, I can’t handle anymore of this. Too long has this band gone about committing crime after crime by playing, and the word needs to get out. I’ll never fully grasp people’s appreciation for pop music, but now I know I’ll never fully grasp some people’s appreciation for bands like Skylark. I’m not going to boycott them or anything, but I hope more people can realize that this is band is just a donut - sugary and immoral, but never good for you.

When I say that they are near the gate of perfection and give it a 98% score would be considered this is a work of art. Well, putting it in simple words I’d have to be really picky to find what is wrong with this album. There are only little details that I could take into consideration for this album not being perfect, but it certainly is a truly grandiose masterpiece. Finally my friends, Skylark is on the way to the heaven church where the warriors are honored and upgraded to masters of the genre. It does not matter if they are not known worldwide or if they don’t have video clips to promote the songs. That is what makes them so great, because with pure musical skills they have truly achieved greatness.

Currently, this is by far one of my favorite metal albums. For those purists who think metal is not supposed to be what this album offers they are pretty misguided. This is power metal, symphonic whatsoever, with a light atmosphere although heavier in my opinion than ‘Gate to Heaven’, no matter what elements they have thrown in they did it magnificent. All the ingredients for a good album are here: awesome vocals by Kiara, outstanding guitar solos, epic songs, speedy songs, mid tempo songs, good instrumentals, good background vocals, good riffs, good drumming, etc. I mean, what else do you need?

Let’s begin with the obvious. I think this album is by far better in some aspects than the 2 Divine Gates albums. 1. Now the production and the now decent sound help a lot because the bass lines now are hearable. 2. The fact that there are more mid tempo songs helps because this way they avoid overwhelming speed that in long term will get you bored of. Actually, fast songs there are only: ‘The Scream’ and ‘Soul of the Warrior’ and the instrumental ‘Hurricane’ 3. Fabio Dozzo is no longer in the band and unfortunately for me since I like his singing style with the constant high pitched screams. I must recognize that very often he used to screw up because of the getting-out-of-range vocally but the good thing about the new backup singer is that they added some eco (like Edenbridge do with Sabine’s vocals) so it sounds amazing. 4. The bass lines have taken predominance and you can now hear them very well and man, this time they got it right. They are not only following rhythms but taking ownership of some of the songs. 5. There are no epic songs in here, at least not in the way they used to so the song writing has been simplified. This is neither good nor bad but just different. In my case, I like the old epic-lengthy style of songs but here this just rocks out. 6. Last but not least, the angelic vocal of Kiara, man, is she lovely! I will detail on her abilities later but the fact that she uses middle ranges makes her fit perfectly with the music without overbearing with high pitched screams.

Alright, now that the improvements have been appointed, let me tell you why I think this is fucking great and just a step away of pure perfection. Kiara is by far the best choice they could’ve chosen. Her high notes are amazingly sweet and yet powerful. They are very similar to those of Saeko, but Kiara is sweeter and more pitched. Throughout the entire album she sings mostly in her middle range but when she screams man I get chills and orgasms just listening to her. Next is the choice of a backup vocalist who actually controls his vocal range. The fact that he is only accompanying Kiara makes the dynamics even more interesting and he sings in a more or less high range but avoiding veing Ralf Scheepers or Kiske. The juxtaposition of both singers creates a cool atmosphere and sung dialogs.

On to the songs you get a little bit of everything but not ultra fast songs like Belzebu or the Triump. Actually, I’d say the instrumental ‘Hurricane’ is the fastest track. The rest are basically mid speed ‘The scream’ and ‘Soul of the warrior’. They are a little faster than the average mid tempo but are not that fast as the ones mentioned below. There are some progressive tempo changes here and there like ‘Soul of the Warrior’ where the changes of pace take you completely off your feet and I love them. This is the kind of things that make the songs interesting instead of just relentless speed. There is only one ballad in ‘Believe in Love’ and now we are talking. Previous ballads were good, not cheesy, which is one of the problems of power metal but this with Kiara singing really soft and subtle giving textures to her voice plus the guitars in the upfront and the keyboards back grounded leave me hyperventilated. The guitar solo, by the way, is very 80’s very Poison, Cinderella, Bon Jovi alike. In here the bass lines are thick and the vocals are just flawlessly performed. The bass lines are more diverse this time such as ‘Time’ where the entire song is bass driven and I must say they just added a very nice melody to it. It is my favorite song here because of the exquisite bass lines and low male vocals making the perfect contrast with Kiara’s falsetto and then her high pitched screams give me goose bumps.

The keyboards are very good balanced with the guitars and they are not overshadowed as such can be heard on ‘The Scream’ where they are perfectly mixed to listen to them clearly. What I find interesting the most is the awesome melodies since nowadays is very hard to come up with memorable melodies (let’s say ala Stratovarius) so I find this very good done.

The guitar solos are very similar to those from D.G.II. The follow the same pattern and melodic sense but since the songs are better they sound better here. The riffing style has now been improved. The progression of the power chords are far more interesting and a little more ‘complex’ than those from the first D.G albums although they are yet rather simplistic, as normally in power metal.

The re-arrangement made on ‘Heaven Church’ is obviously vocal driven to show off Kiara’s skills. Although the rhythm parts last for around two minutes and this one cannot be compared to the masterpiece the original is, it is still a good track and very enjoyable. But again, I only take 1 point for re-arranging a song that is perfect in its original form because it lost its crunch (ok, light atmosphere from the original but still heavier than this new version).

Finally, Skylark is basically known for two things which they have succeeded at: 1. Atmosphere. 2. Epic sense. In this case they have sacrificed the traditional epic sense but the atmosphere is taking predominance which is ok for me since they are doing it perfectly, enhancing a good and positive vibe throughout the listening experience.

Now I face a problem. I am well aware that Divine Gates I and II are NOT perfect, but since they are for sure two of my favorite all time albums and this one beat them, what score should I give to those on my reviews since I always thought they were almost perfect? What a predicament huh? Anyhow, I’ll have to listen to them over and over to try to come up with the most objective review I could to give them a fair opinion. Kiara, this is your fault because of this masterpiece of an album but I love you because you have become my princess!

At long last, a Skylark album with a polished, powerful production! Style-wise it IS comparable to their earlier works, namely the previous album Fairytales. Some of the material here is in the same vein of the Fairytales formula of straightforward power metal with an even handed mixture of symphonic keys and crunchy guitars. It doesn't sound anything like Fairytales, from a sonic vantagepoint, it just utilizes some of the more basic song structures found on that album. Not to say that it isn't progressively tinged at all though, there are a few songs that jump around, or unexpectadly shift gears, but most of the material is pretty straightforward melodic power metal.


The first things you will notice about this album, is that first, Skylark's guitar sound is at its heaviest and most prominent in the mix than they've EVER done. And secondly, that there are no male vocals other than the sparse backing vocals throughout. Kiera has really come into her own as a singer, and any doubts one may have had about her from the last two albums are now quietly set aside. She sounds just as powerful and emotive as [i]any[/i] power metal singer out there, male or female. I've pointed it out in my review for the previous album, and I'll point it out again: she does [i]not[/i] sound like the majority of female singers in the metal realm. She has a very modest, and (like the previous reviewer pointed out) a "sad" aspect in her voice, which makes her the perfect singer for this given style.


Which brings me to the next thing. This album is not by any means as light and sugary as some of their previous offerings, namely Wings and parts of Fairytales. Freedom Call or Power Quest this isn't. The music has a quite "desperate" or "urgent" feeling to it. In fact, I can easily proclaim this record their darkest record to date. Not that it is inherently dark, but that it isn't as uptempo and "happy" as some of their previous works. They do, however, flirt with AOR/melodic hard rock once again in the form of two tracks which definately are curveballs compared to the rest of the album. Those two songs are obviously, Dying Inside and Believe In Love.


The former is the exact same mold as A Rose In Her Hand from the previous album in that it is a mid paced slab of anthemic melodic hard rock with a very accessible chorus. Think Journey with heavy, chugging guitars. It is the second shortest song on the record, and at 4 minutes is short by Skylark standards. Obviously, it is the intended "single" of the album, as the band are producing their first video clip for this very song. The latter, Believe In Love, is the most accessible song Skylark have ever done. Its quite an astonishing power ballad, with a very emotive performance from Kiera, and a very desperate feeling thoroughout. Eddy Antonini and co. have proven themselves to be very versatile musicians, as they have somehow managed to recapture a majestic, powerful aesthetic not heard in decades as far as power ballads are concerned. Think the classic aura felt in Roxette's hit It Must've Been Love, or Firehouse's Love of a Lifetime, resusciated and metal-ized for 2008.


I've already mentioned about the guitars being the heaviest and most prominent in Skylark history, and I'll add that they have quite the classic metal tone with the solos being far more bombastic and excitable than they've ever been as well. The bass is quite bombastic (with bassist Brodo offering up just as many progressive bass lines as usual) as well, but isn't as near as loud in the mix as the previous album. The keyboards, you might imagine are overbearing and pretentious. They are not. Sure some of Skylark's early work definately had the keyboard as the lead instrument, but here it is very even-handed (in its duals with the lead guitar) as I've already stated. Consequently, this doesn't sound like Sonata Arctica. There are keyboard solos, but they are always fitting and never go into the realms of keyboard wankery. In fact, the keys have never sounded so lush and beautiful as they do here.


The drums are being played by another guest drummer, as Skylark have still yet to find a permanent replacement after the previous drummer left in 2005. However, the drum sound is a vast improvement over the last two albums. There isn't any emphasis on technicality or any displays of virtuosity by any means, but the guest drummer offers up a straightforward power metal display of fast double bass and sufficiently does everything that is necessary. Also, the snare is more forceful (though it sounds "triggered") than ever, which only adds to the powerful, soaring nature of the music. The production needs mention again, because until now, Skylark have never had an album where every instrument is this clear and audible. It was mixed by Tommy Hansen and you can clearly hear the difference (and vast improvement over previous Skylark productions) from the getgo, and its no wonder that this album is their highest selling to date and even got them USA distribution for the first time.


Highlights (though there is nothing anywhere close to subpar to be found) include: Soul of the Warrior (which is my favorite song, and effectively merges Kiera's sublime delivery with male vocals in this beautiful neo-classical journey of a song), All Is Wrong (which again is utterly delightful and sublime track with its share of time changes), and the aforementioned Dying Inside. And this time there are bonus tracks, both of which are re-makes of Mt. Fuji from the last record, one of which is acoustic. The latter is definately the most contemporary thing Skylark have done, and sounds like a potential radio hit to me. Besides that, it somehow perfectly creates a very sad, dramatic aura and manages to sound utterly hopeful and peaceful at the end. Think Stratovarius' Forever, only much more grandoise.


That does it, this has managed to become a real highlight for Skylark and it my new second favorite album from them (after the Princess Day', which seems too transcendent to ever re-create anyway) and its quite apparent that you never know what to expect from Skylark. They are definately a band that consistenly is able to try new things and introduce new elements without ever abandonding their original vision. While that is true, the production on this record lends to us a Skylark that until now hasn't sounded so lush, epic, and masterful. One hell of an accomplishment I must say.