Everything you could want for their all important third opus
With the release of their sophomore effort Silent Company in 2005, Melbourne based power metal act Black Majesty managed to build upon the success of their 2001 debut Sands Of Time, both on a national level and on an international level, which earned them a reputation as one of Australia's biggest exports within the power metal scene. Following a two year break from the studio, Black Majesty (Comprising of vocalist John 'Gio' Cavaliere, guitarists Steve Janevski and Hanny Mohamed, bassist Evan Harris and drummer Pavel Konvalinka) return with their third full-length effort Tomorrowland, and it's a more than worthy follow-up to their highly acclaimed Silent Company.
Once again, Black Majesty have managed to alter their sound and direction ever so slightly on the ten tracks from their new album, with the opening track Forever Damned allowing the dual guitarists Janevski and Mohamed the opportunity to inject a little more muscle into the band's fast paced attack, while Cavaliere's soaring vocals are as impressive as ever.
The slower and sparser sounding Into The Black and Evil In Your Eyes (With its not so subtle Iron Maiden sounding introduction) allows Cavaliere to really show off his ability to pull off the lower range of his voice alongside his higher registered efforts, while the faster paced title track Tomorrowland pretty much sums up the European influenced power metal sound you would normally expect from the band.
While Faces Of War and Another Dawn are solid enough tracks, there's nothing that really makes the songs stand out quite as memorable as the rest of the album, but Bleeding World (Which again brings to mind Iron Maiden in places), Wings To Fly and Scars do manage to show a little more of the band's progressive edge from their debut creeping into their song writing structures (Great guitar leads and plenty of variation in the tempos), which helps make them stand out as some of the stronger tracks on the album. Once again, the band tackles an unlikely cover for their third album (Last time around it was Jon English's Six Ribbons), this time taking on Deep Purple's Soldier Of Fortune (From 1974's Stormbringer). Although the music has been beefed up and given a bit more of metallic edge, it's Cavaliere's David Coverdale impersonation that really makes this version work.
Much like their former releases, Black Majesty have once again utilised the services of producer/engineer/mixer Endel Rivers, as well as making sure the cover artwork (Again, provided by Dirk Illing) retains a certain consistency, but Tomorrowland does sound a little different from their last effort. Tomorrowland is a little more progressive sounding, and a little heavier overall, both of which help make it a third time winner for Black Majesty.
(Limb Music Products/S.P.V./Riot! Distributors)
