Emoceans

This 2nd full-length release by French band Syrens Call has many qualities that are likable - almost too likable, which may be why I feel somewhat ambivalent about it.

Musically speaking, this CD contains 13 tracks and almost 70 minutes worth of what I would describe as mellow, orchestral progressive metal with power influences. The keyboards play the leading role in controlling the sound structure of the tracks; they are ever-present as atmospherics, and are in the foreground enough to be clearly audible at all times. The lead guitar player is perfectly good, and often shares solo duties with the keyboards in an evenly balanced way. He does have his moments in the spotlight, particularly in the lengthy opening guitar solo in "Silence of an Angel". This sound combination is primarily the reason for the progressive tag; there is little in the way of progressive complexity, but the sound isn't "power"-ful enough to just call it power metal.

The ocassional power metal part of the equation is made up entirely of the rhythm section, who are the only reason why this may at all get any power metal mention - without their efforts this would be rightly called fun female-fronted hard rock. The rhythm guitars show just enough crunchy teeth at times to carry the power metal tag, and there are a few sections of tracks that show the usual double-bass power metal drumming. It is also worth noting that the power parts becomes less and less noticable as the CD goes on.

It is when we get to the vocals that the ambivalence I feel comes to the fore. Valerie Paul has a very nice singing voice, and does not annoy with any false pretense at being a power metal shouter. She has a pleasant, enjoyable voice overall. However, her voice fails to carry the least bit of power in any sense, and it mellows out the rest of the music to the point where it starts to straddle the border between hard rock and metal ("The Start of New Story" being a prime example of the hard rock direction). If this CD was more mellow all the way through, without any of the power elements, I think this would be a non-issue, but as it stands, the vocals sound great during the quiet or keyboard-driven parts, but quite out of place during the ocassional heavier sections.

Having said that, because Ms Paul can sing, and does so to good effect, the picture as a whole is a positive one. The overriding emphasis has to be on the happy and mellow nature of this effort. For those liking their metal mellow, without the least hint of aggressivity, and containing a variety of very well-played and enjoyable songs, this is the ticket. It is worth noting that the vocalist has changed as of 2006, which will bear watching.