Okay, first things first. This is NOT an NSBM release. Accidentally miss out one of the R’s in the name, and you’ll find a handful of bands with similar monikers all devoted to preserving the purity of the Aryan race. An Arryan is actually a type of tree native to South America (or flower, according to their page on MA), and from everything I can gather this gay (by which I mean happy, not homosexual) flower power metal band aren’t preaching racial hate any more than they are preaching God’s good word. It began life as a side project for the Leptos brothers who are also in death metal band Diphtheria, and who incidentally own the record label this is released on.
This album is definitely going to be of limited appeal. There are some bands in the power metal realm that seem to be able to break out from that little niche and ensnare the more generalised metal fan quite readily, for some reason or another. Arryan Path are only really going to appeal to the serious power metal devotees who live on a diet of everything with cheese on top. That said, as far as the style goes this isn’t bad at all. The album kind of plods in with a low, pattering drum as a fat Eastern lick works its way through together with a rather meaty bass line, making for quite an atmospheric intro to ‘Cassiopeia’. Once the track kicks in proper, I’m initially uncertain as to where things are going but soon my mind is put to ease.
The vocals are fairly strong; the delivery is surgically clean and highly polished coming from the school of Kamelot and Dark Moor. Occasionally they veer into falsetto territory although this silliness is kept to a minimum with the focus definitely on good quality singing. There is some room for improvement of course, mainly because there are one or two occasions where the vocals sound a little thin especially where there isn’t a great deal of instrumentation to cover up the flaws. On ‘Molon Lave’ however the vocals sound really epic, especially on the chorus which is backed up with some solid drumming.
The musicianship is equally proficient; on ‘Terra Incognita’ there’s a solid crunch to the guitars, while there’s also what sounds a bit like a sitar on the intro and the violins really give a nice touch to the sound. There is an Eastern influence that shines on several of the tracks on this album, without being too over the top with it. ‘Ishtar’ again utilises that sitar, and I really like the sinuous, mid-paced melodies here and the way the vocals soar neatly above them. ‘Open Season’ has a rather striking chorus and the chants of ‘You’ve got the right to be silent’ are infectious. The guitars gallop urgently, while over it are some Maiden-esque ‘Woah-oah”s that could have you singing along. Speaking of which, I love the fierce “Ooh-Aah”s on ‘Minas Tirith’ and this one also has a very formidable bass that reminds of Manowar’s ‘Warriors Of The World.’
This is quite a strong album, and definitely worth checking out if you like symphonic power metal. Some of the tracks are really catchy and they have a good overall sound, although it’s unlikely to win over fans from outside the genre.
http://www.myspace.com/arryanpath
