Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Demonic Symphony Frozen Tears Company: Nevermore Records Release: 2006 Reviewer: Grim Gaijin Genre: Power, prog

For fans of Power, Progressive and Metal in general

Germany's Demonic Symphony is quite a unique band - especially in this day and age. Defying being labeled a particular genre of metal, they manage to incorporate many musical styles in their arsenal of music. With musical styles ranging from power metal, rock and gothic, Demonic Symphony also shows influence from early Dream Theater and Dio. On their Debut full length CD - Frozen Tears - Demonic Symphony shows many ranges of their metal talents.

The album opener, Frozen Tears, closely resembles the sounds of the first Dream Theater CD - When Day and Dream Unite. With a powerful melodic riff, and just enough keyboards to accent the sounds dynamically, Demonic Symphony shows their talents in the Power Metal genre. The next song, About Dreams, is one of the heaviest songs on the CD. With a great metal riff and sick guitar solo, this proves to be one of the best songs on the disk. Next comes Streets Of Evil, another basic metal track with acoustic parts, rhythm keyboards, and great twin guitar work. The fourth song, I Owe You Pain, hints on being a gothic style song, however, it tends to pay homage more to early Fates Warning than the Goth scene. On The Awakening, Demonic Symphony starts with a piano intro (with war sounds in the background) before going into a Dio-style riff. The sixth song, Lights, has a great rock sound that Rush would be proud of. Birth Of A Vampire is another Dio-style song with an awesome guitar solo toward the end. Next comes Nightmares - another heavy track with crunching guitars and double bass drumming. The guitar riff during the chorus is killer and the demonic vocals add a cool dimension to the track. The next track, Down On The Road, is another Rush influenced song with great keyboard parts and a sick guitar solo to round out the song. If this CD has a standout gothic track, it would be the next song, Payback. However, as the song picks up pace, it sounds more similar to early Dream Theater. The final song on the CD, Demonic Spell, is a great progressive rock anthem with flowing keyboards and a strong guitar riff. Again, the guitar solo stands out on this track - as it does many others.

Fans of Black Metal and Death Metal stay away! However, fans of Power Metal, Progressive Metal, and Metal in general will like this album. The guitars are the strong points of this album as the riffs are masterful and contagious and the solos could stand with the best of metals great guitarists. However, the weak part on this CD is the vocals. Although they are good in some parts, the music really demands stronger vocals. When that happens, Demonic Symphony will be a force to be reckoned with.