AXXIS entered the Metal scene with their impressive debut Kingdome Of The Night that sold 100000 pieces upon its release. From that day the German band worked with a steady pace releasing very good albums establishing a solid name in the melodic Power Metal scene. The band one year after the release of Doom Of Destiny AXXIS return with a new album entitled Utopia.
The short intro introduces a nice keyboard based melody and then turns into a rather classic AXXIS song. I do not know why but when I compared this opener with the band's previous ones I get a sense of freshness. Maybe this is because the band has used some minor orchestrations that add some more volume to the overall solid music. Their German ancestry shines in the fat guitars of Fass Mich An where the keyboards hit you hard with a catchy melody. In this AXXIS for the first time use German lyrics and I can assure you they work just fine and put some aggressive finishing touches.
In the context of this review I went through the band's discography and I realized that for unknown reasons the band has not received the acknowledgment it deserves. I mean they have been releasing very good albums from the very beginning but have never made a big impact in the Metal scene apart from their debut.
In this album AXXIS implements everything they have in their weaponry; from the straightforward guitar themes and the up-lifting tempos to the female vocals and the keyboards strong melodic lines. As I said, the orchestrations have more room but this does not affect the album's Hard Rock character that made this band known. Eyes Of The Child GAMMA RAY-esque intro made me check whether Kai Hansen was in the guest musician's list. But he wasn't. Bernhard Weiss introduces here a slightly lower pitch profile that fits perfectly to this Power Metal tune.
The sound production is a mighty ally for Utopia that I believe is better than Doom Machine. The band has added two bonus tracks in the digi-pack edition that features Taste My Blood and 20 Years Anniversary Song. As you probably have realized the latter song is a special one since it was written to celebrate AXXIS' two decades in Metal. In this one there are some significant guest appearances Andi Deris (HELLOWEEN), Schmier (DESTRUCTION), Rolf Stahlhofen (Ex-SOHNE MANNHEIMS), Doro, Claus Lessmann (BONFIRE), David Readman (PINK CREAM 69) and Walter Pietsch (Ex-AXXIS). Unfortunately, the promo edition of this album did not include the bonus tracks so I cannot give you a description but I believe we agree on that it will be very interesting.
AXXIS have managed to create an album that stands against the standards they have created with their long back-catalogue. So, with all these Metalcore and other mainstream releases coming out recently, AXXIS come with an album with some classic Heavy/Power Metal tunes. Have a nice trip to Utopia my friends...