When I was to start writing reviews for Metal Addicts in the now long gone year of 2016, the page gave me total liberty to write about the bands I wanted, the Metal genres I liked, to give my unlimited opinion about anything. There was only one DON’T: never to bash, speak ill, go south, slash any small, unknown, unsung Metal band. And he told me why; small bands need our support because we don’t know how hard they struggled to be here. I agreed and made it my motto because small bands are really struggling to survive the music industry changes. I mean, not only small bands, all bands unless the big guns.
It’s been a while I’ve been noticing some Power Metal album with many elements from videogames. I’m aware many metalheads are envolved with the video game comunity and share the same values. It’s also true that from the beginning Power Metal has been envolved with fantasy, but now bands are taking fantasy to the other level. They are living in it. Well, at least within their music.
I’m writing this because Kilmara’s “Journey to the Sun” has proved to be the toughest album I have ever reviewed here since 2016. It was the first album I started to write the review, wrote some lines and then quit and deleted the file. Now I’m starting it again after some careful thoughts about the album and the band. It was a kind of defy to myself to write about “Journey to the Sun” without trashing it from head to toe. In fact, the thing that really bothered was the tittle track “Journey to the Sun” as an 8 bit version plus the intro of “Point of No Return” that uses the same videogame features. No, it’s not good at all.
Taking a close look to Kilmara’s iconography, my dear child of the night might find some interesting details. “Journey to the Sun’s” cover art has many references to the videogame world and some about sci-fi as the fighter that looks a lot as the rebels from Star Wars. Another reference, but this one only I found is the cross reference of the band’s name and sonancy with Styx. Yes, Styx. More notably with 1983’s concept album and opera rock “Kilroy Was Here,” where the main charecter Kilroy was a teen wizkid addicted to videogames. It’s the album that showcases the band’s signature “Mr. Roboto.” Of course, the sonancy of Styx is very far from Kilmara, but the idea remains. By what I saw in the art cover, Kilmara would be the female version of Kilroy. Just a thought.
Now the rest of the album is pretty good. Maybe those tracks were just some kind of prank or something like that. My version of the press release had an acoustic version of the same “Journey to the Sun” which is unforgettable with a prime instrumental. By the way, the instrumentas in the album are really amazing and in some ways otherwordly – sorry for the pun.
So, in short, “Journey to the Sun” was an album I loved to hate. One of the toughest reviews I’ve ever written here due to these mixed emotions. I mean, in one hand I wanted to shove the album where the sun doesn’t shine: on the other hand, I was amazed by the fantastic instrumentals.
Kilmara “Journey to the Sun” will be released on January 31st via ROAR.
Track Listing:
1. Point of No Return
2. Journey to the Sun
3. Alliance of the Free
4. Chances
5. Liberticide
6. Wildfire
7. An Even Whole
8. Power of the Mind
9. Take Me Back
10. Journey to the Sun (8 bit version)
11. Journey to the Sun (Acoustic)
Watch “Journey to the Sun” official music 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!