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Carsten Schulz and Axel Ritt have got already a long ride in metal
land behind them. In the eighties they gathered some fame under the
moniker Kingdom. But it is only since 2001 one can speak of a
comeback, when the German band released the album ‘One Million Light
Years From Home’. Since then trusty followed by a new and heavier
album every year. Soon after the release of ‘The Sixth Dimension’,
vocalist Carsten started writing the story of Utopia, guitarist Axel
wrote the music for it and at the beginning of 2005 we can listen to
‘Last Days Of Utopia’, a true conceptalbum. This stands for a
musical trip that adds even more symphonic and progressive elements
to the power metal of Domain. Astonishing innovations in the genre
are lacking, but this is an excellent album to listen to and relax.
Singer Schulz has a perfectly suitable voice for this epic material
and the finger blistering guitar skills of Ritt give us an array of
very grateful moments. It seems inevitable at concept albums:
already in ‘Harbour Of Hope’ Carsten’s voice is buried under a mass
of bombast and choirs. But this only represents the landing on new
territory from our hero of the story and from ‘A New Beginning’ on,
we can hear the true Domain. Axel handles his guitar as a virtuoso
and they swallow the bait. The long epic ‘On Stormy Seas’ has a slow
development with repetitive themes and lashings of choirs. The album
is enlightened by catchy tracks such as ‘Ocean Paradise’ and the
ballad ‘The Beauty Of Love’ where our hero has found peace of mind.
Not for long, for rebelling thoughts are reflected in the sturdy
‘The Great Rebellion’ where guitarist Axel shows his best side
again. It all ends in a dramatic way for the new world in ‘Endless
Rain’, feelings of disturbance and being chased are reproduced in a
proper way. Our hero ends up all alone and licks his wounds in the
mid paced ‘Left Alone’, again first rate musically expressed.
Fans of inspired power metal with a lot of bombast and an
interesting story will do well to purchase the limited double CD
version, for here one can find many extras for your money. |
