This is the second album (not counting their 2006 self-financed demo) from the band from Cyprus. Touring as of now with Finnish metallers STRATOVARIUS through Europe, WINTER'S VERGE asked none other than R.D. Liapakis (MYSTIC PROPHECY) to handle "Tales Of Tragedy"'s sound at his Music Factory studios and the good reviews for the "Eternal Damnation" debut are a good obstacle to be surpassed by these hopeful Heavy/Power metallers. Is 53 minutes a capable model for a serious finding?

"Tales Of Tragedy" is not a bad album, not at all. But to my ears it sounds - as its 2008 predecessor - quite flat. It's not single-dimensional; the songwriting outlines owe a lot to the European Metal tree. Sharp riffs with lots of melody, quite serious vocals featuring a narrative/warrior pattern (not quite making it in high notes), a fitting rhythm section with some double-bass drumming adding a 'teutonic' touch and backing keyboards carrying a pompous layer to the music are a succinct yet - I hope - helpful review of WINTER'S VERGE's style. You can feel an exotic tension or abstract gloom in "Tales Of Tragedy"'s songlist, but I was quite surprised I did not find it easy to listen to the album again and again for the needs of this review. Usually, the more you dig in a certain CD the better it is to glean the good parts and just get rid of something discouraging; in this album the memorable parts are right here and waiting but - as time goes by - the word 'noteworthy' gradually vanishes. And that's weird because it's obvious the team has worked hard for the recordings of this CD and the sound is not disappointing at all...

The mild parts in this CD, truth is, teased my ears a little bit more. Dunno, maybe more dedicated European Power Metal fans can drag a better conclusion regarding this WINTER'S VERGE follow-up release. Hence, try before you buy if have the chance; but - in any case - enjoy the impressive cover artwork.
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