HEARTCRY
Heartcry - Lightmaker (Rivel
Records) 2005
1. "Battleground"
(3:49)
2. "Burn Out" (4:05)
3. "Runaway Train" (5:10)
4. "End of Times" (5:53)
5. "Lightmaker" (5:02)
6. "Get Ready" (2:52)
7. "Justice" (4:4)
8. "Alone" (6:06)
9. "Dark Side" (4:56)
10. "Child" (6:18)
Heartcry are a mixed affair, mixing modern European power metal with classic hard rock bands. Imagine a combination of Narnia, Primal Fear, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and Uriah Heep and you might get an idea of what to expect here. At times vocalist Anders Johansson reminded me of Paul DiAnno, which is where the Maiden comparison comes in the most. Actually, the songwriting is all over the place. While the first song is a full speed assault that should please any power metal fan, other songs draw more heavily from the hard rock of the 1970's, especially when that organ sound, played by Danne Tibell (Jerusalem) kicks in. I found the production on this disc to be a little odd. While the drums, vocals and bass sound great, the guitar almost seems like it was recorded in a box and lacks crunch. It's not bad and with a little EQing, the problem wasn't nearly as noticable.