This is a freshly formed band with a birth certificate that sets the date of birth somehwere in 2007. SIGNUM REGIS is the brain child of Ronnie Konig who wanted to release his music that seemed to be unfit to the Heavy Metal band VINDEX he is also involved.
The lineup took its album's form after the addition of Goran Edman whose voice can also be found on Yngwie Malmsteen and John Norum albums.
As you have probably guessed (by the singer's background) SIGNUM REGIS belong to the European Power Metal scene that needs a small number of words to be described. Of course, I don't mean that the aforementioned scene is not worth of my words but it is so straighforward and easy to spot that there is extremely easy to describe. Well, some believe that for this reason Euro Power is sometimes that predictable that crosses the line of being boring.
So, in the band's debut release you will find catchy melodies and strong chorus lines that can easily take your mind to bands like the late HELLOWEEN, Yngwie Malmsteen and maybe some early RHAPSODY (especialy due to the keyboards) and if you listen more careful you will discover some traditional Heavy Metal touches (think of RAINBOW with Joe Lynn Turner on the vocals).
What I found interesting was the underlying Epic Metal feeling in songs like The Rain (excellent guitar solo here) or the faster Sirens Roar. The choice to fill the seat behind the microphone with Goran Edman was at least excellent since he has a powerful high pitched voice that fits like a glove to the musical direction of the band. The keyboards play a sigificant role here with sing along and raising fists melodies that sometimes look towards the STRATOVARIUS direction. The guitar work tells us that the musicians in this band know their way in the fretboard laying down some shredding riffs and catchy hooks that can satisfy all the fans of this genre.
Personally, I have a problem with this kind of releases; for some strange reason I get the I heard that before feeling more than usual making me loosing my initial interest that is built through the high musicianship. If I think more I can say that the Euro Power genre seems to be self-restricted and cannot escape from the sound bouindaries that were set by the leading bands. Nevertheless, this is a personal thought and should not give the wrong impression about SIGNUM REGIS; this band seems to know the scene's whereabouts and can definately satisfy all the fans of this sound. The album has been already released in Japan that is traditionaly a die-hard fan of this specific genre and actually this adds a strong point to the band's curriculum vitae.