Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Children of the Night
Released: 2008
Running time: 43:12
Rating: 4/5
Unless you’re a band on the level of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest or maybe Saxon, it’s pretty hard these days to put out a pure-blooded heavy metal record, since the genre has sadly been stagnating for a while now. That makes it all the more commendable when a young band decides to play this style, and even more so when that band actually releases an album. That’s exactly what Children of the Night from Murska Sobota have done with their debut, Let’s Run Somewhere, Let’s Run Away…
On this debut, the trio and a bunch of guest musicians saw off a good three quarters of an hour of solid heavy metal, occasionally helped along by power metal passages. The guests build the album’s distinctive atmosphere with plenty of “folky” parts and choir vocals that back up the lead vocals of guitarist and singer Silvo Celec, while whispering children’s voices, popping up in a few tracks, add mystique and mystery. All of this points to Let’s Run Somewhere, Let’s Run Away being a fully realized, meticulously crafted concept, wowing us with some truly brilliant instrumental parts and sentimental moments, mostly thanks to the magical lyrics. Children of the Night drew inspiration for them from horror master Stephen King, the great J.R.R. Tolkien, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Marie Louise de la Ramée, and numerous films and Dylan Dog comics. On that front alone, the album is a “must” for every fantasy fan, and luckily it comes across as very mature and not the least bit “cheesy”. The lyrics feel downright nostalgic and fit the music superbly, which dresses them up in scorching heavy metal garb or in ballad and semi-ballad moments, as the situation calls for. The album’s great atmosphere is established right at the start by whispering children’s voices that sound eerie and spine-chilling, leading us into the mid-tempo heavy track Ghostdance. The rest of the song, with its alternating male and female vocals, also sounds creepy and convincing. One of the best tracks on the record, Silver, takes us with an excellent opening riff into King’s masterpiece It and captures the struggle against evil really well, with a solid song structure in the faster parts and a great, infectious chorus that meshes nicely with the slower bridge. The Boy and the Spider continues in a similar vein. Silvo’s vocals take on the role of the personified evil of the novel It, while Filip Korošec’s child vocals play the boy who stands up to the monster. The guitar lines are especially effective here, peaking in an excellent solo in the third quarter of the song. Starbirth calms down the heavy metal side of the album, and this (semi-)ballad could hardly have captured the tragedy of The Little Prince any more beautifully. Silvo steps into the prince’s role again and delivers probably the most convincing vocal lines on the album. In general, the vocals are more convincing in the calmer moments, while in the faster and more aggressive parts they occasionally run out of breath, power and conviction. The Beast Within, with its werewolf story, sails into slightly more hard rock waters, and although the vocals in the verses don’t work all that well, it makes up for it with a stronger, epic chorus that totally nails it. The acoustic Spun in the Wind recalls one of Blind Guardian’s acoustic tracks, and the flute gives it a folk touch that carries the tragic lyrics across beautifully. The Day the Machine Won is probably the weakest track on the record, and the biggest letdown is the chorus, which sounds a little empty and flat. But the closing “ring trilogy” fixes that bad aftertaste. It kicks off with Narya, the fire ring of the dwarves from Tolkien’s mythology, and takes us straight into Middle-earth. The track shines with infectious guitar lines and another excellent solo that flows into a mighty, pompous chorus. Just as it should be for Tolkien’s fantasy! Nenya, the ring of water, is one of the album’s loveliest tracks, building its magic with a slow ramp-up, cello, and calm vocals helped along by additional female vocals. And the record is brought home by the crushing Vilya, the ring of air, which closes the fairy-tale journey that Children of the Night so successfully conjured up on Let’s Run Somewhere, Let’s Run Away…
Despite a few teething problems, the debut from the Murska Sobota outfit is a praiseworthy piece of work and a conceptually complete whole, which the fantastically designed booklet only elevates further. Children of the Night have proven they can write, arrange and structure dynamic, varied and diverse songs, come up with some really good guitar lines, and translate the themes of some truly great authors into music and lyrics in a phenomenal way. Personally, I’d just like a somewhat stronger voice in places, as the vocals don’t quite convince in the higher registers, but the foundations are firmly laid, and if they keep going in this direction, we might be looking at the next big name in heavy metal in Slovenia.
Lineup
Silvo Celec – vocals, guitar
Tadej Titan – bass
C.N. – drums
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS:
Dejan Borovič: keyboards and effects
Martina Sabotin: piano (Nenya)
Katarina Ficko: flute (Spun in the Wind)
Tjaša Zorko: flute (Nenya)
Tanja Dominko: violin (Nenya)
Samir Azzeh: cello (Nenya, Spun in the Wind)
Miha Dominko: guitar (Vilya)
ADDITIONAL VOCALS:
Katja Žibert, Melanija Markovič, Tanja Dominko: choir (Nenya)
Tjaša Zorko: female vocals (Nenya, Vilya, Ghostdance)
Igor Korošec: male vocals (The Beast Within)
Filip Korošec: child vocals (The Beast Within, The Boy and the Spider, Starbirth)
Production
Dejan Borovič & CotN
Tracklist
1. Ghostdancer
2. Silver
3. The Boy and the Spider
4. Starbirth
5. The Beast Within
6. Spun in the Wind
7. The Day the Machine Won
8. Narya
9. Nenya
10. Vilya
