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BUY THIS CD NOW!! POINT CLICK DONE! ->Valley of the Lost


Winterlong, Valley of the Lost LMC 2104 2, 2001
(Lion Music)

Winterlong are a Finnish band that play a sort of cross between old-school metal
acts (Iron Maiden, Helloween) and 90's technical / prog-metal. As far as I can
find, Valley of the Lost is their first album, but they sound far from
amateurish. The band concentrates on tight riffing from the guitar anchored by
galloping double bass drums. The lead guitar gets a lot of time to shine, but
the solos are more tasteful than the shredding associated with prog-metal bands
(which admittedly isn't saying much). Vocals are not quite the center of
attention but are well-done and appropriately gruff for the style of music.
They also embellish the traditional metal instrumentation with keyboards and
choir courtesy of Lars Eric Mattsson, who also produces. The orchestral
keyboard sounds are usually used, of course, for the obligatory "anthemic
choruses," a technique which sometimes works but mostly doesn't (the keys do
add a nice mysterious edge to the verse of the title track, though).
Winterlong's greatest strengths seem to be coming up with epic metal riffs and
surprisingly substantive solos, but still have a way to go in piecing
everything together. The song "Winterlong" is a good example, since it has a
great galloping guitar riff and a flat-out brilliant, vaguely folk-inspired
guitar solo, but a mediocre verse and a chorus that falls on its face.
 
Still, they have hit on something in the way they use technical shredding in a
way that seems truly heroic rather than cold and detached in the manner of so
many prog-metal bands. Therefore, I think Valley of the Lost should
appeal mainly to those seeking a modern take on the classic 70's metal
godfathers. I have a feeling everyone else will have a hard time taking the
guitar heroics and fantasy-inspired lyrics seriously, but people raised on that
kind of metal will probably love Winterlong. If the band can just figure out
how to come up with powerful hooks consistently, they might just become a force
to be reckoned with. ~ Adam Murphree, EER-MUSIC.com

Toni Erkkila - drums
Thorbjorn Englund - lead guitar
Hussni Morsare - vocals and rhythm guitar
Erik Tornberg - bass 
Mistheria - synth solos on tracks 1 & 9.
Lars Eric Mattsson - synths, orchestral and choir arrangements

Songlist:
1. From Heaven to Hell
2. Sky Travellers
3. Winterlong 
4. Valley of the Lost
5. The Water Spirit
6. Nosferatu
7. Mystery of Life
8. Victory
9. Written in Blood 
10. Driven By Insanity




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