Got introduced to NARNIA's world from their very first album, Awakening, back in 1998. A hopeful Nuclear Blast candidate back then, the Swedish clan somehow fell back in promotion and - after more than a dozen of years - still seems to search for some wider recognition. Holding credits in bands like SAVIOUR MACHINE, FIRES OF BABYLON, STORMWIND, DIVINEFIRE and Rob Rock, the surviving members of NARNIA welcome the new singer German Pascual and place their own bet for Course Of A Generation's value in the midst of a typhoon of new releases.
Melodic Metal with enough neoclassical/symphonic elements, blessed by the AOR silk here and there, conscious Christians and holding the Swedish DNA certification, NARNIA is unlikely to disappoint. Sounding -in this new release, too- as a mix of KAMELOT, ROYAL HUNT, MASTERPLAN, melodic URIAH HEEP, new EUROPE, Y. Malmsteen and AT VANCE, the quintet delivers the goods in a fitting powerful production and boasts some convincing songwriting shared between sweet melancholy and mature melody. May appear to be kinda boring to those not digging ultra-melodic Metal that much, on the other hand, I think NARNIA has prepared something quite interesting over here.
Throwing a good mix of new and typical patterns on the table, the Sweds somehow skip the obstacle of sounding boring after a couple of tracks - and that's a strong point if we recall tons of other acts in the same field. Surely, the players' skills show no mercy, of course the production helps in preserving a tension throughout the whole tracklist, but I think it's also the fresh blood brought in that raises the dynamics of NARNIA to a higher level. This is the 6th studio album by the band and I would characterize it also as their most 'focused'.
Course Of A Generation has the potential to attract even more fans, I think; and hope. Solid, melodic and heavy, the album's worth your money. NARNIA's world still is intriguing and trustworthy. Ah, and German Pascual is an excellent singer.