| Last Tribe The Uncrowned | Frontiers Records FRCD172 |
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Metal with choruses – love it! The key to any great album is strong songs – memorable hooks and good choruses. No matter the style of how heavy the music, there must be something for the listener to hang on to. These guys nail it. I can hardly believe they are on their third album already. The first two impressed and this is no different. The guys play their own brand of European melodic metal, adding little twists and turns to keep it ever more original, keeping fans heading back for more. So we have the good songs – add a powerhouse vocalist, a pounding rhythm section and world class production and it doesn't get much better than this. Like Masterplan, Last Tribe know how to craft a great song without sacrificing good riffs and memorable choruses. And like Masterplan they vary the delivery of the songs. Some songs are straight ahead power metal. Some have a leaning towards neo-classical, some have a slight progressive edge. All have melody and class. Track By Track: Healer opens the album. This is a powerful, uptempo opener with double kick drums flailing away over the powerhouse delivery of the guitars. The chorus is almost instantly catchy, which is a great feat for such a heavy approach. A very memorable opener. The Uncrowned is slower in pace and somewhat darker, although the pace picks up as the song goes. The inclusion of some keyboards and a harmony filled chorus make the song sound a little more commercial than you would normally expect. Another catchy and memorable track. Sacrifice is a heavy Dream Theater style ballad. The chorus and layers of harmony and musical filling make this one of the best metal ballads of the year. The Chosen One picks up the pace again. Things never really slowed down, but the delivery of this song again builds the intensity of the album. This is a pretty long track with some superb guitar soloing and a heavy as rhythm section. But always there is melody and hooks. Otherworld is another heavy rhythm section fuelled rocker. The chorus isn't as strong as other tracks, but it still makes for good listening. April Sky is a brief one minute interlude. It's a nice segway into Sound of Rain which starts softly, but quickly builds into a mid-tempo heavy rocker with another solid chorus. Only the Innocent is a real uptempo number, with the drums seemingly going another pace higher again! A dramatic song, with plenty of progressive touches and some solid melodies. Call of the Tribe is a heavy mid-tempo guitar driven track featuring more frenzied double kick drum action and some inspired guitar soloing. Full Moon closes out the album. No let up in intensity or heaviness here. Another good track with a simple, but memorable chorus melody.
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