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Some time ago I reviewed the promo CD with three songs of
this young Finnish band, preceding this debut album. It sounded OK, but
not that exceptional. On their debut ‘Primal Exhale’ Excalion confronts us
with a great improvement, so that this can be seen as a qualified album.
One can compare the band partly with their fellow countrymen of Sonata
Arctica and Stratovarius, but songwriter and keyboard player Jarmo ‘Jappe’
Myllyvirta takes care of many skilled keyboard parts, so that the
symphonic element comes more to the foreground.
The album was recorded in the Watercastle Studio in
September 2004, after signing a deal with the Sound Riot label (end of
2003) and this shows us a real improvement since the promo recordings.
Because of a great production, this multi layered music and compositions
sound a lot better. ‘A Moment In The Spotlight’ is made to become a huge
hit and as a video clip it would harvest lots of success at MTV. The
Malmsteen guitar runs in ‘Reality Bends’ are shored up by vivid keyboard
pads. Most of the songs have a length of five to six minutes and are
embellished with atmospheric keyboard passages and excellent guitar riffs
and soloing. It surely is not really original, but they play fresh and
dedicated. ‘My Legacy’ is another fine song which has a kind of epic touch
with its powerful vocals and double bass drum parts. They even remind me a
bit of Conception in a song like ‘Stage Of Lies’. ‘Heart & Home’ is the
slow of the album and ‘Obsession To Prosper’ starts calm with piano and
evolves to a skilled mid pace composition. The debut album of Excalion has
become a positive enterprise, better than I expected. |
