Artist: Leverage
Label: Elements Music
Release: 2006
Rating: 3.5/5
Finns! This isn’t just another “power metal” band, the kind this “brave new” world of ours is slowly getting sick of. Leverage are not Sonata Arctica, not Stratovarius and (thank god!) not Children of Bodom or Nightwish. So clearly we’re dealing with something at least a touch fresh or different, and therefore worth some new interest and attention.
Let’s look at the production first. For a Finnish band, the guitars are decidedly pushed forward in stereo, and the feel of the massive riffs is like having two guitarists in the band. So the filtered-out sound picture that, say, Stratovarius have is completely gone here. The other thing is the “arena” sound of the keyboards. No crazy keyboard-versus-guitar duels, with the rare exception of Marching To War – a typical Finnish trick, that. Most of the soloing is handled by the guitar. So we can call this power heavy metal with a mild, carefully measured flirtation with elements of melodic hard rock. Close enough to Masterplan? Pretty fitting comparison, no doubt. Oh, and then there’s Greece’s Firewind too. So the riffs bring in here and there even a touch of modern “groove”. Leverage have a punchy production, even more aggressive than the Finnish “power” metal tradition. Finally! And along with it all the ultra-melodicism a power metal fan could dream of is kept intact. So the guitars dominate the whole sound picture – the essence of metal! Short and sweet: “fresh cliché”!
Even better. The vocals are warm, emotional and just build on the hot, well-crafted guitar vibe, which is draped in keyboard pomp that grabs your ears quite pleasantly and unobtrusively from the background. Vocalist Pekka Heino (a member of Brother Firetribe – the Finnish hard rock band owned by Nightwish’s guitarist) sounds distinctive enough that we can talk about a trademark of the band. Stylistically he leans on Jorn Lande, only the approach is even cleaner, or rather the voice is, yet with a recognizable color – I won’t be far off on the timbre if I throw in the name Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), of course with even more explosiveness.
The riffs are, despite a fairly predictable basic form, fresh enough, the songs compact, with polished, poisonously catchy choruses, full of pomp and epic grandeur. These guys are well-versed musicians who deliver an exceptionally high-quality debut and have a refined taste for songwriting, building a proper Scandinavian atmosphere of melancholic elements – you recognize them by it right away. That Leverage have a strictly drawn line they won’t cross is proven by the excellent “power” ballad Follow Down The River, which is absolutely vaccinated against any potential slip that could turn it into just another clichéd, sugary-sweet piece of nonsense.
“Tides” is a solid, determined step for the band. As a debut it lays an important foundation, a recognizable, convincing base that Leverage, with their talent, will undoubtedly build on in the future. A shortlist contender for metal debut of the year! Fans of European power metal and melodic hard rock (no sugar!!!), you have to check out “Tides”!
Line-up
Pekka Heino – vocals
Tuomas Heikkinen – guitar
Torsti Spoof – guitar
Marko Niskala – keyboards
Pekka Lampinen – bass
Valtteri Revonkorpi – drums
Production
Tuomas Heikkinen & Torsti Spoof
Track list
1. Fifteen Years
2. Superstition
3. Horizon
4. Dreamworld
5. Follow Down That River
6. Stranger
7. Sails
8. Marching to War
9. Twilight Symphony
10. Gone
Album length: 47:40
