The Californian band EDGE OF PARADISE plays Melodic Heavy Metal in the old fashioned way; with a slight circus of freaks tip, they enlisted the services of the legendary producer/mixer Michael Wagener (SKID ROW/DOKKEN) for their first full length "Immortal Waltz" with the very active German label Pure Steel/Pure Rock becoming the official publisher of the new album. Updated with a new cover-art and a dense Promo campaign everything seems set for a triumph!

But I'm afraid that the credibility of the album will be laborious to defend in an overcrowded and overly talented scene, and I think to establish EDGE OF PARADISE and its first album differently as a gimmick item would be a hard task. Sure the pretty face of their redheaded frontwoman Margarita Monet is an asset but sadly the vocals are merely OK and nothing more i'm afraid; a little thin, lacking of edge, conviction and grid!

Their music is as well a little generic and not really inventive but I should admit that the focus is tagged in the best way, enhanced with some predictable but catchy hooks and some attractive melody lines. Really a mixed bag of sensations as far as i'm concerned!

As far as songs go all I can say is "Perfect Shade of Black" offer an interesting appetizer but it fails to persuade, and the title track gave another Epic/Symphonic/Weird twist with a SAVATAGE-meets-HUNTRESS quirky kind of atmosphere. Maybe that it's the right stylistic protocol to take this band up to a next level! Then there's the cover of the DIO-era SABBATH classic "Children of the Sea" which positions itself in the danger zone of attempting to both reinvent while also recapture in a respectful angle the essence of this classic among the classics.

I want to stay on the positive side as I'm kind of supportive with the Young Metal pilgrims walking this difficult path, so I'll say that EDGE OF PARADISE hold definitively some potential - but I'm sadly still not convinced!