Melodic Power Metal from Barcelona in Spain, that is what KILMARA is giving us on “Journey to the Sun”, their fifth studio album since their start in 2003. And it becomes very obvious that these guys are not novices in what they do, as the music all fits together like the proverbial glove. And I have to admit that although I usually steer away from this musical genre, I can only admit to liking what these Spaniards are throwing my way (and yours, obviously).

No, you shouldn’t expect to hear anything new under the sun, not will you be blown away by the sheer magnitude of the brilliance of the songs on “Journey to the Sun”, but you will have to admit that KILMARA is a group of very capable musicians that clearly love the music they make. And having a singer who has a very pleasant voice to listen to does make it a little bit easier. The only drawback for me are the backing vocals. They sound like they are AI inspired, or from a machine instead of living beings. They are quite generic and except for as little bit of depth they don’t add anything to the mix.

The sound on “Journey to the Sun” is impeccable. Producer Seeb Levermann has done a brilliant job in catching the right vibes to make listening to this KILMARA album quite easy, even if it isn’t rocking my world like I hoped it would. Unless you put on “Liberticide”. That is a very impressive Heavy Metal tune that goes beyond the rest of the songs. If only the band had chosen to do more songs in this vein. That would have made the listen more invigorating, more exciting. The YNGWIE type guitar solo does help as well. Thankfully “Wildfire” continues that style, but unfortunately it ends after that one.

What also is strong is the very bare 8 Bit version of “Journey to the Sun”. To be quite honest this rendition is much more impressive than the full Metal track. What it does tell me is that the songs that KILMARA writes are of a very good quality, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if more of the songs on “Journey to the Sun” would sound better in their bare state. But we have to do with what we have, and even though it doesn’t make my day, I still feel that “Journey to the Sun” is a very decent and dependable album. If that is enough for you, go ahead and listen to the latest KILMARA.