Customer Reviews

Waterlines

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Waterlines" is the second release from Finnish melodic power metal band Excalion. There are some progressive stylings here, too, and, right or wrong, Excalion has drawn a lot of comparisons to Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica.

About half the songs on this album are flat-out amazing. The other half are decent, but have a generic, unmemorable feel to them. There are no "bad" songs on this album.

Jarmo Pääkkönen, the lead singer, makes this album great. He sings with more passion and exuberance than virtually any other vocalist. He makes the good songs great and the middling songs interesting.

On the whole, this album's good songs are good enough and the lead singer strong enough to carry this album.

Great Metal band from Finland with excellent vocals. This is the 2nd album for the group and was much better then the first album Primal Exhale which had some great songs, but didn't have what Waterlines brought out. Waterlines as a whole is a great album, but if you like epic songs listen to Soaking Ground. The first 3 tracks are also great. Buy this cd if you love good metal especially progressive/power metal. It's a must have.

It's a very solid album without any real fillers. It has a feel that is close to classic prog metal, because it doesn't have as much of the typical "horse hoof" drums as a lot of modern power metal or prog metal bands have. It has lots of good straight forward rythms, which keeps it from being too busy. I like complex intricate music, but it's nice to listen to more basic and straight forward sounding grooves in music too. The vocalist is mid range, but with a few higher pitches when it calls for it at the end of certain words, and could fit into the 80's progressive scene. The art work is nice too :)

This CD struck a very good chord with me, mainly due to the vocals which I characterize as 'clear but with character'. The singer, Jarmo Pääkkönen, has a rich, almost mellow singing voice but can add a bit of grit and emotion when the songs crank up a notch. The best example of this can be found on "Losing Time" which starts quiet and then kicks it into a higher gear (especially at the 2:55 or so mark when Pääkkönen really lets loose). Every once in awhile his voice seems to hit a note just slightly off, but I consider him one of my favorite singers in metal.

The music is generally pretty straightforward with some nice melodies. The earlier songs are faster, heavier and a bit more memorable. The later songs tend to blur together and feel a bit more generic, but it's still quality music. It works particularly well in a mix of different styles of metal since then the 'sameness' of some of the songs is less noticeable.

I read a comment once that 'the best power metal in the world comes from Scandinavia, and the best power metal in Scandinavia comes from Finland' (or words to that effect). Personally, I would say that Sweden has produced as many top class power metal bands (Tad Morose, Falconer, Nocturnal Rites etc), but there is no doubting the quality of Finnish power metal. From the land that brought you such great bands such as Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Warmen and Requiem comes Excalion.

'Waterlines' is their second album from 2007, and boasts some of the most impressive album artwork that I have seen in a long time from Jason Juta. They also have a truly outstanding vocalist in Jarmo Paakkonen, check out the video for 'The Wingman' which showcases his abilities. This is a consistent and enjoyable album with the only slightly weak point in my opinion being 'I failed you'. Lyrics throughout the album are good, though there are not the fantasy themes you might expect from looking at the cover! There is possibly also a commercial edge to some of the material, though no more so than can be found in some material by Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius, and I would certainly recommend this album to fans of those two bands and of power metal in general. I look forward to checking out their third album.

Good band from Finland. Count with gerat singer in the person of Jarmo Pakkonnen. This band have great melodics rythms and compare with other fantastic bands suchs as Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica. I recommended this band to all power metal lovers.

This was my first Excalion experience. Typical...half the CD is awesome the other half is okay. Overall, it is worth a listen for any fan of Scandanavian metal.