Remembrance

Harmony

In the mighty and fertile cold lands of Sweden in the early 2000, Markus Sigfridsson, […]
By Yngwieviking
April 24, 2015
Harmony - Remembrance album cover

In the mighty and fertile cold lands of Sweden in the early 2000, Markus Sigfridsson, a skilled young guitar player, with his best friend, Tobias Enbert behind the drum kit, created HARMONY, a Christian Power Metal band influenced by the great Scandinavian Neo-Classic tradition updated with a strong Melodic Prog-Metal tendency...The perfectly named HARMONY, is an ambitious group that was immediately warmly acclaimed by our community, a general positive consensus that occured right after the succesful release of their debut album, "Dreaming Awake", in 2003, an impression that was even reinforced by its solid sucessor, "Chapter II: Aftermath", published in 2008.

In late November 2014, it was the next crucial step in their career, their third offering, "Theatre of Redemption", was available. The big announcement was that it featured in the Lead Vocal role, one of the most reputed Metal singer from Sweden, the one and only LOST HORIZON's former Daniel Heiman, who provides, as expected, a superb performance; very impressive in every section, displaying an amazing range and an outstanding emotional imperssonated feeling, and I had the privilege to review it with a good rating of 9 in result..."Theatre of Redemption" finally ends up really high, in my famous top list for 2014...They also encountered some kind of achievement with DARKWATER as a side-project; the duet of musicians is still very active and full of ressources!

On May 22nd in Europe, and on May 26th in North America, the Swedish melodic Power Metal band HARMONY, will release a new work in EP format, entitled "Remembrance"...Once again published through Ulterium Records will features the legendary vocalist Daniel Heiman (ex LOST HORIZON/ex HEED/ now frontman for LAVETT) on vocals. This six track EP includes four re-recorded songs from the HARMONY's debut album, "Dreaming Awake", as well as two brand-new songs.

Of course, "Eternity", "Dreaming Awake", "Without You" or "She" are the reworked tracks; the running order is still the same, keeping the original successivity, while at the final slots, the songs "In His Heart" and "Feed My Hunger" are the newest compositions; you can count on the ultra precise sonic rendition in the purest Swedish Tradition as, like "Theatre of Redemption, "Remembrance" was mixed by the same glorious team at Studio Fredman (DREAM EVIL/HAMMERFALL/IN FLAMES).

Although a little short, "Remembrance" is fully packed with the best exemples of "how Modern Power Metal has evolved" with orchestrated arrangments, a few ballads, sporadic acoustic elements and more subtle, understated interludes ("Without You") and something sounding quite parallel to Progressive Rock ("She"), the whole is clearly well played and superbly produced with with a huge dynamic range .

The epic side and the Metal straightness is still present, strategically added, giving a more accessible feel to the listener with song like the opening cut, "Eternity".

If the style of the early album is respected, obviously the new found technically and proficient focus has given another color to this EP, a challenging method crafted under a even more epic flavor, the title track and "She" were two of my favorites in their "Dreaming Awake". Now maybe in concurrence with the quality of the recently added tracks, like the infectious chorus within "In His Heart" and its numerous layers of harmonized vocals, or "Feed My Hunger"...The second being the most emblematic; it fit into the existing stylistic musical realms and show the more Melodic way forward for what could be the band's future, with a sophisticated Eastern/Oriental chord-structures mixed with the refreshing harmonic excellence!

Another warning coming from the North...Will you remember?<

8 / 10

Excellent

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"Remembrance" Track-listing:

1. Eternity
2. Dreaming Awake
3. Without You
4. She
5. In His Heart
6. Feed My Hunger

Harmony Lineup:

Daniel Heiman - Lead Vocals
Markus Sigfridsson - Lead Guitars
Tobias Enbert - Drums
Raphael Dafras - Bass
John Svensson - Keyboards

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