DARK MOOR

Beyond the Sea

Arise Records

10 tracks; 44:11

Spain's DARK MOOR have returned with their fifth release, Beyond the Sea. Line up changes over the past 12 years - most notably the departure of their female vocalist a few years ago coupled with the addition of a new guy singer - have resulted in significant changes in their sound. Maybe it's a hormone thing, but the heavyometer has registered increased activity.

One can expect to hear plenty of galloping rhythms framing highly melodic, passionate tunage with lots of tempo shifts and hooks. The guitar work is particularly tight, with leads that demonstrate confidence in a range of styles and techniques. The keyboards are good too - as long as you like pianos and synths. They go far to give the band its symphonic and baroque characteristics, coming to the foreground quite a bit with choirs, string sections, brass sections and so forth. The guitars and keys play off each other with a precision and eloquence reminiscent of the mighty Symphony X. Up front is the vocalist though. He has a powerful voice with a huge range and a sky-scraping soprano. Usually, it's a clean voice with a rich tremolo; although, he has a bit of a Bruce Dickinson thing going on once in a while too. A toast should also go to the production work. Progressive metal like this demands a slick production job. So it's good that this disk has one. Finally, the cover art is divine. (It's too bad its related JPG file is on such a low resolution that it's hard to see what a nice painting it is; I looked everywhere for a better file, but couldn't find one.)

I'm hoping that on their next album, more work is spent on the song structures and progressions. They're pretty uncomplicated and predictable, so it'd be great if they really fucked shit up with that. In addition, although the singer has a massive voice, it could use more restraint. Maybe it's just me, but he's just so emotional with it, it makes me blush - even if I'm listening by myself. And there's so much emotion that it somehow begins to sound forced and insincere.

Anyway, at the end of the day, this is a fine release from a hot band. It might be a good idea to check out their MP3s on the above noted websites, though, before you shell out any dough.

Regan Perlett