Power metal is one of the most resilient Metal’s subgenres, and with black/thrash, one of the first to deviate from Heavy Metal. Many people often confuse it with speed metal, and I confess it’s a bit hard to get one from the other. Power metal is more melodic, through more aggressive. Vocals are grandious, vocalists usually have huge voices. For today’s specimen, power metal is more often mixed with symphonic influences. First track “Devil’s Eyes” of this Brainstorm “Midnight Ghost” is an excellent example of a power metal piece. Everything I told before can be found in it. There is also another important difference; there are american power metal bands, ans european power metal bands. In a more general sense, Brainstorm actually cope both.
Two things call the attention to Brainstorm “Midnight Ghost”. They are vocals and the guitars. Vocalist Andy B. Franck does a damn pretty good job. The dude plays with his voice. His vocal range is pretty impressive. Unlike his peers, he has a very good diction. All words he sings can be perfectly understood. Come on guys, it’s that usual in Metal. Even English native speakers sometimes seem to have a potato in their mouths. Sometimes hot. “Ravenous Minds” portraits it very well. What about the grand voice he does in “Jeanne Boulet (1764)”? Awesome, isn’t it? Great voice has the dude.
Second thing are the guitars. It’s odd to say that they are exactly what you expect from power metal guitar, in this new world sometimes you ought to be redundant. There are too many bad examples, you know what I am saying. Brainstorm guitar duo, Torsten Ihlenfeld and Milan Loncaric, prefer to have a bit low-tuned guitars. This options makes guitars sound bigger. A kind of burst into your ears. And the dudes play very well. They find some good solutions to their songs as in “Divine Inner Ghost.” Vocals and guitars are the great match in Brainstorm.
Well, if you are into a great power metal band, here’s Brainstorm with “Midnight Ghost.” No regrets. With some catchy choruses as a bonus.
Brainstorm “Midnight Ghost” will be released on September 28th via AFM Records.
Track Listing:
- Devil’s Eye
- Revealing the Darkness
- Ravenous Minds
- The Pyre
- Jeanne Boulet (1764)
- Divine Inner Ghost
- When Pain Becomes Real
- The Four Blessings
- Haunting Voices
- The Path
Watch “The Pyre” official video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!