RATING: RRRR
Label: EARMUSIC/EDEL
Review By: Alan Holloway
The phrase ‘Dream Team’ is often bandied about, and in music
it applies to the likes of Jagger and Richards, Daltrey and Towsend or May and
Mercury. In the rock world it is totally just to apply it to Hansen and Kiske,
a couple of lads who made my life a lot more exciting back when they were in
Helloween, even if it was only for two albums.
So is it godo to have them back together for their second
Unisonic album? Hell, yeah! The first thing that grabs you about ‘Light Of Dawn’
is, unsurprisingly, Michael Kiske’s vocals, which are as powerful and soaring
as they ever were. Many, many other singers have taken their lead from his
groundbreaking style, but none has quite managed to match the superior tone of
Kiske in full flight. Listening to ‘For The Kingdom’ transports me back to my
teenage years again, swimming in the sheer melody and power, broken up only by
a widdle-tastic solo from Kai Hansen. It’s one of several tracks that could
have walked off of either of Helloween’s ‘Keeper…’ albums, and this is
definitely a Good Thing.
‘Not Gonna Take Anymore’ is a more cumbersome track that
comes across like something from one of the ‘Avantasia’ albums. It’s a bit of a
fists in the air track, with a pounding drum beat and orchestral keyboards that
bring to mind Kiske’s Avantasia appearances. There’s also ‘Blood’, a power ballad
that doesn’t really do it for me, except when Hansen lets rip. On the whole, ‘Light Of Dawn’ is an upbeat
album that will have fans of classic power metal falling over themselves to get
a copy. Personally, I feel that the slower tracks can trip up the momentum
built up by the faster ones, but this doesn’t alter the fact that this is an
album with a hell of a lot to enjoy within.
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