Founded in 2007, by Oliver Palotai (Doro, Kamelot, Blaze Bayley). Oliver decided not to be part of the Blaze Bayley (or Blaze Bayleaf as I like to call him) due to a disagreement with Blaze’s management (the whole band decided to quit too), which gave Oliver the perfect opportunity to work on his own project ‘Sons of Seasons’. The bands first live performance wasn’t until Feb 2007, what followed included a support slot for Epica and getting the chance to play Metalcamp.
Now on their second full length album ‘Magnisphyricon’ (first release being Gods of Vermin in 2009) we will see what Oliver has to offer on his plate of Symphonic Metal.
A dramatic and atmospheric, dark start with the intro track ‘Magnisphyricon Temperance’ making me feel like I’m in for something really special. The harmonic group vocals sound like they could shatter even the strongest of church windows, then fading into a beautiful piano piece. ‘Bubonic Waltz’ (track 2) carries on with the same theme as the intro, however casting a handful of heavy drum rolls and the vocals... well they fit perfectly for this kind of power metal goodness! The organs made this track a piece of perfection. ‘Soul Symmetry’ adds a little bit of ‘man’ to the album with the brutal riffs throughout, even the vocalist sounds a bit more ‘beefed up’.
I couldn’t listen to ‘Sanctuary’ for long, it had potential, but there wasn’t enough going on to keep me listening, and the female vocals were a little too goth for this type of music. Same with Casus Beli I Guilts Mirror’, I couldn’t keep listening due to it sounding a little droney and repetitive.
‘Into the Void’ has a plausible start with its intro ‘Magniphyricon Adjustment’ starting off the track with a Zakk Wylde style pinch harmonic, but to be honest, the rest of the track doesn’t offer much in the way of something different.
‘A Nightbirds Gospel’ has an interesting intro to it, ghostly melodic ‘aaaah’s’ then blasts in with some heavy drum beats and keyboards. The chorus an empowering wail from vocalist Henning Basse with lyrics ‘You belong to me, take my gospels with me’ followed by some shouting which sounds similar a style to Faith No More’s ‘We Care A Lot’. (Just my own opinion) One of the stronger tracks off the album.
‘1413’ with more of our Zakks Pinch Harmonics, and some fantastic vocals (for a slight second I thought of Manowar) the track is all over the place in the best way possible, definitely my favourite. Toward the middle section it slows down (cue lighters in the air) into an ethereal feeling, but straight back into the heavy riffs and growly, yes growly vocals (well done) showing a diversity to his abilities.
Ending with ‘Yesteryears’ giving a reflection of the journey on album with a romantically soppy piano piece, female vocals fading in and out, with the vocals of Henning serenading your very ears.
Admittedly, I’m a little disappointed in myself for not having heard of these guys before, being a bit of a Palotai fan myself. However, the album had a lot of ups and one or two downs. A cracking 80% of the album literally made me want to go out and buy this, sadly the other 20%, not so much. Still, if you’re a fan of Melodic, dark metal, then get your dirty mitts on this!
http://www.myspace.com/sonsofseason
Charlene Rance
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