Artist: Lunatica
Label: Frontiers Records
Released: 2006
Rating: 3/5
Lunatica are the band that, intentionally or not, slyly cashes in on Tarja’s absence from Nightwish. A gorgeous female gothic vocal sits front and center as the main attraction of the band’s sound. A band like Lunatica will grab the younger crowd of listeners who adore bands like Nightwish, and Elis too. That said, Lunatica don’t go for the typical “power metal drive” and prefer to cruise somewhere in between, often closer to melodic hard rock. The keyboards build a solid wall of sound, pushed up front in the production and forming an equal counterweight to the guitar riffing in the overall sonic picture. The keyboard arrangements and production are the kind typical of hard-hitting symphonic bands, especially in power metal, so Lunatica carry a dose of pomp and epic grandeur that even a blind man could spot.
The songs are completely predictable, but they show that Lunatica are a young, talented band with big ambitions, one you should take seriously in the future. The album opens with an atmospheric intro narrated by Yello’s vocalist Dieter Meier, then the title track blazes up in epic “power metal” fashion, with a gallop backed by double bass pedal drumming and an operatic soprano vocal parked in the center the whole way through, delivered with authority and a ton of confidence. What follows is exactly what we talked about. Melodic “hard rock” leanings creep in with Sons Of The Wind. This is the song that rules the album, thanks to an outstanding symphonic keyboard arrangement, carefully added “back” vocal harmonies, and gorgeous transitions out of the pre-chorus, which builds up in mood all the way to a pompous peak in the chorus itself. It’s a song polished from head to toe, both in performance and as a composition, especially when the mood suddenly snaps through a wound-up instrumental middle section that the band keeps in a “power metal” mode right to the exit. Who Are You has one of the strongest choruses and one of the strongest atmospheric contrasts between pre-chorus and the punchy, hungry chorus. It’s the type of song that would be perfect for release as a “single”. Simple and punchy, with no needless complications. A short song with a big melody that gets under your skin right away and has huge hit “single” potential. The album keeps up that high dynamic wave from here on, too. Next up is the mid-tempo Out! The keyboards are to blame for its distinctive dramatic atmosphere. Distinctive because the mood created here is unique to this song on the album. That obscure vibe only grows in the chorus through a modern, massive but simple “riffy drive” from the guitar. I don’t think I’d be making a big blunder by throwing out Evanescence’s atmosphere as a nearby “reference point”. The melodic “hard rock” leanings sparkle again in Song For You, where the female vocal is set in a slightly lower key and doesn’t come alive as intensely, but Lunatica solved that masterfully by inviting John Payne (GPS, ex-Asia) to sing a duet on the track, which literally saves the song from cliché, since you end up wishing the passionate Payne would just sing the whole thing himself, if not more. That Sascha Paeth and Miro had a hand in the arrangements and production isn’t hard to figure out, at the latest by the all-encompassing symphonics the keyboards bring in, surrounding the “power metal” main riff of Together (even the title is textbook “power”). That one and the next track, Thee Power Of Love, feel a bit too clichéd, especially the latter, which in its lines recalls Song for You, only taken at a ballad tempo. So the album loses some momentum and appeal here. But things get successfully patched up right at the end. The fast-paced Worlds Unleashed grabs your attention again and breaks up the monotony that had set in. It’s one of the album’s highlights. It’s practically the maximum exploitation of Andrea’s vocal potential, who burns up with passion in the chorus of one of the most impressively woven melodies on the record (as far as bombastic punch goes). After it comes EmOcean, the longest track, which carries a superb symphonic-epic finale. Through a heap of fluid passages, the contrast between keyboard motifs and the guitar riff, and a mid-tempo groove, the closing stretch comes close to the atmosphere of Savatage. This song confirms the band’s huge potential when it comes to writing arrangements. It’s the most demanding track on the record in terms of combining and handling the arrangements themselves. They’re fused in such a refined, fluid way that it glides smoothly through the human auditory receptors into the association cortex of the brain, and while listening to this track, a rush of happiness hormones isn’t out of the question (for all of you most susceptible to the vibe of this kind of music). One slightly unfortunate decision by the band is to include, right after EmOcean, what is basically an identical version of the track as a duet between Andrea and Oliver Hartmann. The second version is clearly upgraded thanks to Oliver’s contribution and as such could easily serve as the album’s closer, while the single-vocal version could have been cut from the album with zero guilt. Repetition always gets in the way.
Lunatica is a band with huge potential. “Edge Of Infinity” is certainly not yet the peak of the band’s output. In certain parts of the album you can still find room for further polishing the compositions. “Edge Of Infinity” boasts big production, with great care given especially to the atmospheric symphonic arrangements in the transitional passages. The main attraction of the band and the album is of course the female vocal, which keeps Lunatica from sounding clichéd and draws back the curtains on every option for the band to step up alongside Nightwish in the race for popularity. Andrea is simply full of magic!
Lineup
Andrea Datwyler – vocals
Andre Leuenberger – guitar
Sandro D’Incau – guitar
Alex Seiberl – keyboards
Emilio Barrantes – bass guitar
Ronnie Wolf – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Dieter Meier – narration (1)
John Payne – vocals (6)
Oliver Hartmann – vocals (11)
Production
Lunatica
Tracklist
1. Introduction
2. The Edge Of Infinity
3. Sons Of The Wind
4. Who You Are
5. Out!
6. Song For You
7. Together
8. The Power Of Love
9. Words Unleashed
10. EmOcean
11. EmOcean*
Album length: 54.20
