The Scroll of Stone

I wasn't prepared for "The Scroll of Stone." "Hereafter," the only Magica album with which I'm familiar, is decent stuff, and I figured this would yield something at least close in quality. Magica, named after an album from the dearly departed Ronnie James, had a bit of a rough start. This sounds more like a collection of demos and unfinished ideas than a conceptualized recording. I could take most common gripes that hold back a record's meat and all of them would apply here, pretty much. This is not due to gross incompetence; Magica put out a handful of solid releases later in the game. I'm thinking the group was either rushed into the studio or limited by some variety of extraneous factors that muddied the waters.

Magica plays a style of melodic power metal similar to Nightwish. I guess the best way I can describe "The Scroll of Stone" is that it was intended to be a Nightwish worship album but its creators had never listened to Nightwish and were only building their foundation from what they had heard they sound like. There are lush keyboards and beautiful vocals, but both are disheveled by a deficient guitar performance. I know Magica albums aren't overflowing with outstanding riffs, but the chops here are straightforward, bland, and show little worth admiring. The guitars drive the tunes around in a similar mid-paced plod, and each song spins aimlessly on a trite chorus and dull underpinnings. Whatever support the keyboards and vocals provide is held back by the vapid songwriting and sheer lack of zesty riffs, or at least riffs that allow Magica to move around.

"The Scroll of Stone" seems like it is still under construction. The tracks do not build up with any measure of drama or fan any flow from initiation to conclusion. They just exist, drifting to and fro before rolling over to the next one. That is probably the best way to describe it. It all appears caged in this vanilla, linear template that locks in the parking brake. Attempts to spice up the record come off as awkward more than anything. The spattering of folk sections, virtousic guitar shreddding (especially considering the banal riffs), and booming narrative sections range from inelegant to silly. These wackier moments support the idea of a messy beginning, growing pains and all evident.

Again, this seems too fragmented and bumpy to be the result of artistic ineptitude. I could cite Magica's better works as proof, but there are moments when "The Scroll of Stone" stops tripping over its own feet. The album wakes up on "Mountains of Ice," which dials up the tempo to what is hyperdrive compared to its surroundings. The crunchy riffs and vibrant chorus are not golden by any stretch of the imagination, but the track flows like a cohesive, structured song, and it is overall a fine cut. What else did I like? The title track has a semi-decent chorus, and I liked the keyboards that sound like they were pulled from the Quest 64 soundtrack. I also liked it when I could listen to something else.