http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/

METAL HEAVEN is the second record company that the German music lover Georg Siegl runs, next to his more well-known AOR Heaven label, which already exists for more than ten years. With this label and its mail order Georg is one of the biggest players in the world of melodic music.

His excellent ear for quality music made him sign the Finnish band Altaria, whose music can be described as melodic metal. In 2003 they released an excellent debut album called 'Invitation' with the present Requiem singer Jouni Nikula on their side. Although Jouni is no bad singer at all, on their new release 'Divinity' the quality of Altaria has increased one hundred percent with a new man on the vocals called Taage Laiho. Taage has more then 20 years experience in singing and stage performances. His voice and the excellent compositions from the band make that this album stands above many of the CD's that are coming our way at this moment.

The first song 'Unchain The Rain' is a strong opener with powerful melodies and delicious vocals. This song is a great way to introduce the new album and the new singer. 'Will To Live' starts off with some heavy guitar riffs and then turns into a beautiful power ballad. The next song, 'Prophet Of Pestilence', has a very threatening title, but it sounds very commercial, with some fine choruses and a beautiful solo from guitarist Jani Liimatainen, who we all know from his other band Sonata Arctica another awesome group from the beautiful Finland.

'Darkened Highlight' is the fourth song on 'Divinity' and combines a Metallica kind of rhythm guitar with some great melodies and beautiful singing. 'Discovery' is a trip back in time to the golden years of aor music, when American bands like Giuffria, Van Zant and White Sister had their best years. This song is one of my favourite tracks of this album. 'Falling Again' reminds of the music and drive I know from another great Scandinavic band called Narnia. 'Divine' is another highlight on this gift from Finland. It is a combination of very melodic vocals, great keyboards and some heavy breaks, a real joy for my ears. The album continues with a fine sounding ballad called 'Haven'. Song number nine is another trip back to the American aor from the eighties. With 'Stain On The Switchblade' it is time to get my head banging. An awesome speedy song that rises above all the other great songs and which follows a slightly other path than the rest of the songs. I just cannot sit still when I am listening to this one. It is clear that Altaria gives us value for our money; high quality songs and a very acceptable duration of their album. Song eleven is another perfect power ballad that tells the story of the writer's 'Enemy'. 'Final Warning' is the last song on an album that will probably be in my top ten list for 2004.'

Score: 92 / 100


http://www.rockreport.be/

Although we liked Altaria’s debut album “Invitation” (METAL HEAVEN, 2003), we mainly had two points of criticism: the rather weak vocals of Jouni Nikula (Requiem) and the changeable quality of the songs. The great news is that the band has improved immensely in both departments. This time the songs are of a constant high quality, but what’s more: Nikula has been replaced by Taage Laiho. Although you might not have heard from him before, he’s been active in the music biz for some 20 years now, albeit mainly in unknown (80s) or cover bands (90s). Laiho is Altaria’s third vocalist and I can only hope for founders Pukkila and Smedjebacka that he can/may stay, because he has a really strong voice, that perfectly suits the ultra melodic kind of metal these guys are producing. By the way, Laiho’s incorporation (the Invitation Pt. 1 tour in September 2003 was the first with him) is (was) not the only line-up change, as second guitarist Emppu Vuorinen decided to leave the band on friendly terms last December. Vuorinen wanted to concentrate on his work on his main band Nightwish, which is of course fully understandable. Right now Altaria is operating as a four piece, but live they’re joined by second guitarist Petri Aho, who has played with Marko and Tony in their Blindside heyday.

The first thing that catches the eye when you hold Altaria’s new album in your hands, is the top-class artwork of Jason Juta. But things get even better when listening to the 12 songs that make up “Divinity”. From “Unchain The Rain” to “Final Warning”, the listener gets immersed in a bath of sparkling melodic metal songs, that will appeal to a wide audience, stretching from the elder lovers of classic melodic hard rock to the more recent admirers of power metal. Heavenly melodies, catchy hooks, powerful vocals/guitars, versatile instrumentation: it’s all here, expertly produced by the guys themselves and (again) mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox in Helsinki. Among the class songs I’m drooling over right now, are “Discovery” (full of power and with great vox from Laiho!), “Try To Remember” (a classic in the making!), “Enemy” (catchy or what?) and “Final Warning” (what a way to end an album!).

The limited edition first pressing of the CD will be available as a digipak, including one bonus song: a cover version of Accept’s “Balls To The Wall”, on which vocalist Andy Engberg (Lion’s Share, Section A) joins forces with Taage Laiho for a duet. This song isn’t included on my promo copy, but I’m almost sure it will be as ‘hot’ as the rest of the material on offer here.

Let me congratulate the band as well as Georg Siegl (of METAL HEAVEN / AOR Heaven) with this release. Dear visitor, I know you’ll still have to wait several weeks before it’s released, but when May 24 is reached, you will be able to purchase one of the best melodic metal releases of this year, which has already offered so many quality releases so far. One thing’s for sure: melody ain’t dead and won’t ever die! What a great year this 2004 has been so far!!! (CL)


http://melodicrock.com./

Songs: 90%
Sound: 94%
Total: 92%