Customer Reviews

Gravity of Light

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2010's Gravity of Light is the eighth studio album from long-running Finnish power metal band Tarot. The band, which features Nightwish bassist/singer Marco Hietala, has had something of an on again/off again career since forming in the early `80s, but has been consistently active in the last several years.

The core Tarot lineup is in place on Gravity of Light, but long-time roadie and backing vocalist Tomi Salmela is now on board full-time, sharing lead vocal duties with Marco Heitala. This changes the Tarot sound somewhat, but it's largely a positive change, adding more character and variety to the band's sound. Musically, the band continues to evolve their sound. You can still hear their traditional heavy metal roots, but the overall sound on Gravity of Light is more melodic, more nuanced (I don't want to call it progressive, but it's not far off), and more powerful. The dual lead vocals and orchestral (sampled) elements also help the album stand out. As for comparisons to other bands, I'd say Brainstorm, Symphorce and newer Judas Priest are in the same ballpark, though Tarot has a pretty unique sound, especially compared to most Finnish power metal bands.

If you're already a fan of Tarot, Gravity of Light will not disappoint. I haven't really heard a bad Tarot album, but this is one of their better releases. If you're new to the band but enjoy melodic power metal with progressive elements, Gravity of Light is a great way to discover Tarot.

PS - I caught Tarot live at the ProgPower USA festival earlier this year, and they gave an incredible performance.

it was exallent. perfect condition great sound and cheaper than shopping at a music store. i would recommend this to everyone.

I find this one a bit thinner in the heaviness category compared to Suffer Our Pleasures or Crows Fly Black even though there are some very good songs here. I'm not sure if is how the songs were written but the album took quite a few listens before I really dug it. Perhaps a few more listens & I'll update this review.

"Gravity of light" is the 8th studio album by Finnish heavy metal band "Tarot" originally released in late 2010. Active since the mid 80s, "Tarot" is the outfit of bassist/vocalist Marco Hietala ("Nightwish"), featuring his brother Zachary Hietala on guitars, lead singer Tommi Salmela, drummer Pecu Cinnari and key-player Janne Tolsa. Musically "Tarot" prove consistent in the heavy-melodic metal that defines their previous works and for that matter, retain a good part of their 80s-metal identity. The lyrical concept has become progressively darker. Once again you can expect frequent double bass drum attack, heavy guitar riffs, melodic verses and memorable vocal melodies during the choruses.

"Gravity of light" picks up exactly where the previous album "Crows fly black" left off. Indeed "Tarot" have established a style of their own through the decades and deliver another high quality album in that vein. Still it has to be mentioned that the group has not lost any of the `attack' of their earlier works; "Gravity of light" peaks in terms of performance intensity, and though certain songs stand superior to others in terms of song-writing, they are aligned in terms of performance intensity.

Overall "Tarot-Gravity of light" will obviously satisfy long term admirers of the group while fans of heavy/melodic/power metal will probably enjoy this effort just as much, particularly those into "Thunderstone", "Adagio" and "Sinner".