Five years have passed since Magic Kingdom released their very respected debut album The Arrival. Five years in which Dushan Petrossi, which some guitar-magazines call the possible successor of Yngwie Malmsteen, and his band lost none of their energy and sheer quantity of ideas.
Now they present Metallic Tragedy, a classy Symphonic/Power/Speed Metal work of art, on which they were strongly supported by Oliver Hartmann (formerly At Vance) as guest vocalist.
One word: Amazing!!! Simply one of the best Symphonic Power Metal albums I've heard in the last couple of years. The Belgian metal act thunderstrikes us with a glorious release. A massive guitar sound, complex riffs, heavy rhythm sections, orchestric keyboards and superb vocal melodies are just some adjectives in order to describe this album.
All the compositions are high above average and the final result is something memorable. It would be useless to talk about the techniqal constitution of these musicians. Brilliant tunes, extremely well organized together with powerful feeling that make you want to smash your head into a wall. I just couldn't stop my head from banging and singing along with Max Leclerq and Oliver Hartmann.
Child Of The Nile, The Iron Mask, Flying Pyramids and Master Of Madness are some of the fastest songs included in this release. Highlight of the album in my opinion is the great mid tempo track, Barabas. Too damn good!!! I am very impressed by Metallic Tragedy; I wonder what's going to follow from these guys. Black Magic Castle is a glorious, fast instrumental song, full of keyboard melodies and hellish double drumming. Sounds like the guitar emulates the keyboard on who is faster, while all of a sudden the song changes structure and goes into a more mid tempo rhythm.
Excellent cover artwork by Leo Hao (Iced Earth / Blind Guardian), presenting a castle's entrance where someone defends it from some dragons, using magic to burn them down. I really like the colors on the cover which fits perfectly with the divine, violent music of Magic Kingdom. The production was done by Didier Chesneau and it's crystal clear. The title track is a 13 minutes anthem, which simply rocks. Awesome melodic female vocals mixed with some growling male vocals and a melodic line that simply is one of the best melodies ever written on papper.
If you are not familiar with this band then I strongly suggest you go buy this album as soon as possible. I am sure fans of that genre will just love these compositions and the band's freshness. For sure they do have a unique sound and they're worth listening to. Great release, well done guys.