Viathyn
The Peregrine Way ()
Wydane przez Self-financedRok wydania Kraj CanadaNapisał Wouter6
There are many things that I like about The Nostalgia Chick. Her sleepy puppy eyes, the schoolgirl pigtails, her vigor and irreverent humor, her choice of lowcut shirts... and that loving tendency to accentuate the negative when dissecting a subject. Like her I tend to ramble on about subjects only tangentially related to the review in question - or take the subject under scrutiny as an excuse to point out how ridiculously stupid and silly most things, imagery and aesthetics included, associated with the general metal genre really are. The power metal genre is especially guilty in that respect. After all, it’s far easier mentioning bad power metal bands than naming actual good ones, because they are significantly harder to come by. Just think about the incredible cheesefests that are Dark Forest, Freedom Call, Kaledon, Ligeia, Power Symphony, White Skull and their ilk. No wonder metal isn’t still considered a legitimate genre, even 40 years after its conception - if that’s the image we’re putting out. In case of Calgary, Alberta power metal combo Viathyn the only true asset working against them is their singer. All things considered this is typical, well-played, well-produced power metal that sounds like every other band in the genre, but is just a bit better than most. Sure, influences of Helloween, Iron Maiden, and Rhapsody (Of Fire) are hard not to notice, and this familiarity is comforting in a lot of ways. This is a record that takes pride in being entirely by-the-book and makes no qualms about what it is. Have you heard this before? Plenty of times. Is it enjoyable? Yes, it is. The entry level for most power metal is really low, and this band is no different in that respect. It is easily digestible and doesn’t take a lot of mind power to take in. So, by all accounts "The Peregrine Way" is another low-flying genre record that does what it sets out to do. It isn’t going to launch Viathyn into the international market at any point, but it at least reminds you that occasionally the underground does deliver on its potential. Maybe in a few years from now Viathyn will have grown enough to be a true international competitor in its chosen field? I’m not particularly waiting for that, but they have the chops, at least.
