Fearless - Lord of Twilight
Fearless hails from Shanghai, China, which is a first for me. I’ve heard bands from Hong Kong and Taiwan, but getting a chance to hear one from mainland China is rare. Lord of Twilight is a strange beast because it covers several different areas of Metal. The most predominant form on display is Power Metal. Though there are prominent Black and Melodic Death Metal influences, the guitar playing is pure Power Metal. Lord of Twilight is both melodic and technical. Seriously, these guys know how to shred and shred they do. I’m not a huge fan of virtuoso guitar playing (mostly because it tends to degenerate into guitar wankery), but the musicianship here is exceptional. The incorporation of atmospheric keyboard playing and Asian musical structures is also handled very well. Much like Chthonic did on Takasago Army, the keyboards and Asian musical elements are seamlessly incorporated into their songs. Some bands might tack these things on to give their songs identity, but it never feels that way on Lord of Twilight. The riffing is always melodic and even though the songs are complex, everything flows very well. Every track on this album had my head banging, and by the time the final one, “Darkness Swallowed,” was over, I was actually disappointed that there wasn’t another song. If there’s a flaw in this, it’s in the lack of diversity in the vocal style. The rest of the music is dynamic and it goes all over the place. The vocals, though, remain firmly entrenched in the raspy Black Metal style. It isn’t a serious detraction, but it does keep this album from being absolutely awesome. Hopefully, Lord of Twilight will get this group some more exposure, because I think it is well deserved. Fearless is definitely a band that I recommend.
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