They say that good music is timeless and as different genres come and go in popularity, some styles end up nearly lost. For me, neoclassical power metal was what I grew up listening to for much of my teen years, even before that term was used. In fact, I’m still not entirely sure I understand it completely. What I understand of the term is that some of my favorite bands like Rainbow and Yngwie Malmsteen embody the spirit and sound of neoclassical power metal. Golden Resurrection immediately took me back to those days in my youth listening to those bands, but not just out of nostalgia. Golden Resurrection manage to keep the sound and the style fresh and updated, hopefully to expand the listener base of this genre for a new generation.
Golden Resurrection actually formed in 2008 as a two-member project by Christian Liljegren (ex-Narnia, Divivefire) and Tommy ReinXeed (ReinXeed) and garnered many fans from the neoclassical era of Narnia, especially in Japan. Glory to My King was released in 2010 in Japan to good reviews and was followed up in 2011 with their second album, Man on a Mission, which also received critical praise and led to tour requests in Europe, South America, and the US. With their third album, Golden Resurrection has added two new members, Alfred Fridhagen on drums and Svenne Jansson (ex-Jerusalem) on keyboards to replace former members who stepped down for family reasons, and in the spirit of Deep Purple have named this lineup Mk 3.
In all fairness, the first thing I did after just listening to a few tracks off One Voice for the Kingdom was to go back into my music archives and pull out The Best of Rainbow and Finyl Vinyl (Rainbow) as what I heard brought back so many memories of those albums. The intricate guitar work and interplay with the keyboards on One Voice for the Kingdom could be straight out of those releases. That being said, this album does not come off like it is a tribute album or that it is a throwback to an earlier time. The influences are readily apparent, but there is a fresh aspect to the sound that makes it an entertaining listen throughout.
The album opens with “The Temple Will Remain”, which has an opening very reminiscent from something out of Rainbow’s Street of Dreams album, but with much faster drumming. Overall, the drumming is much faster and more complex than in the old days of this genre, when it often was more about power than speed and complexity. Christian Leljegren shows some great range in this song as well, being able to hit some high screams sounding similar to Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden). There seems to be some repetition in some of the faster parts of several of the songs to the point where they could be confused with each other, but with the songs structured as they are, there is a good bit of variety in the other sections that masks this feature. I did think the song “Night Light” was actually a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell” at one point and there are even some shared “on and on” lyrics between the songs.
The interplay between Tommy ReinXeed on guitar and Svenne Jansson on keyboards is something special to hear and is very much like that of Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord both in the earlier and later days of Deep Purple. The trading off during solos and then playing in unison really is phenomenal and often really carries the songs and helps provide a bit of anticipation as the listener is waiting to see how the two will interact in the next parts of the songs. Tommy and Svenne each bring their own unique style, flair, and tone to their playing, so you can hear the influence of Blackmore and Lord but you would likely never mistake them for each other. The two instrumentals on the album, “Heavenly Metal” and “Moore Lord”, are my two favorite tracks and really serve to highlight the abilities of not only Tommy and Svenne, but also those of Alfred Fridhagen on drums during “Heavenly Metal”.
For this album, Golden Resurrection brought on Ronny Milianowicz (Primal Fear, Hammerfall, Amon Amarth) for the production to deliver a sound that better captures the energy and fire found in their live performances and this has proven to be a good choice. I especially appreciate the rawness of the guitar sound in the intro to “Can’t Slow Down” and throughout the instrumental “Moore Lord”, both of which made me feel as if I was there hearing it live. Christian Liljegren’s vocals and range are excellent throughout, but I did find myself struggling with the lyrical content. Given the genre and my past experience, I was expecting songs about dragons and kings, and mystical evil women, but instead the lyrics are very straightforward Christian in content and while I have no issue with the content, I’m still not sure they fit that well with the music.
Rating: 8/10
Written By John Jackson
Tracklist:
1. The Temple Will Remain – 04:55
2. Spirit War – 05:05
3. One Voice For The Kingdom – 03:55
4. Night Light – 05:08
5. Golden Resurrection – 05:08
6. Can´t Slow Down – 04:48
7. Heavenly Metal – 04:00
8. God´s Mercy – 04:00
9. Born For The Strangers – 05:56
10. Moore Lord – 05:45
11. Special Message To Japan ( Japan Bonus) – 01.08
12. Eternal Freedom (Japan Bonus) – 04:52
Band Members:
Christian Liljegren – Lead & backing vocals
Tommy ReinXeed – All guitars, backing vocals & orchestration
Steven K. – Bass
Svenne Jansson – Hammond Organ & keyboards
Alfred Fridhagen – Drums
Record Label: Doolittle Group, Jan. 2013
Discography:
Glory To My King [2010]
Pray For Japan single [2011]
Man With A Mission [2011]
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Myspace
Buy the album here:
Holland & Worldwide: First Paradox Metalrecords