Lost Horizon - Awakening the World
Koch Records - 2001
By Rodrigo
/images/covers/losthorizon.jpg
Awakening the World was a release that I was definitely looking forward to. The buzz I was hearing and reading about them was great and I was very excited when I got the album in the mail. As it turned out everything I read and heard was true, Lost Horizon has come out with an amazing debut album.
After a quick instrumental, "The Quickening", the first song, "Heart of Storm", hits you with an incredible wave of energy and force. This song is one of the best of Awakening the World. It is fast, it has an excellent anthem chanting chorus (I can just imagine how this part would look like in a live setting) and the musicianship of the band is just incredible, the guitars played by the "Transcendental Protagonist" (more on that later) in the entire album are phenomenal. But the biggest asset that Lost Horizon has is singer "Etherial Mangnanimus". This guy just has an incredible voice and range. In each song he employs a different singing style and has no problems switching back and forth. He has jumped out as one of the best metal singers right now.
Another great song is "Sworn in the Metal Wind". This song features an excellent galloping rhythm and superb instrumental passages with plenty of guitar leads to drive you crazy with excitement. Plus, the singing varies from a more talkative style to soaring powerful vocals. "Denial of Fates" is another favorite of mine. It is one of the shortest songs of the album but it still packs quite a punch. The intro is very cool with the use of the keyboards and it also features and excellent chorus. "Welcome Back" is a little different from the rest because the keyboards take a more prominent role in the song but that is why it makes it such a great song. I also have to mention what an excellent song "The Kingdom of Will is". It is the longest song of Awakening the World at just over 9 minutes and it goes by so fast. It is filled with excellent vocal melodies, great bass lines ("Cosmic Antagonist"), unbelievable drumming ("Preternatural Transmogrifier"), and more tasty guitar playing. Everything that is great about Lost Horizon is featured in this song.
So you may be asking yourselves, "What is up with the band names?" It seems that the band has decided to employ themselves as metal saviors for the world. The album art reflects that perfectly with them coming from the horizon to save humanity from the corporate rats. The booklet is also interesting because more room is taken for the band to thank everybody (and I do mean everybody) than with the lyrics. I find this image sort of silly but as long as they come up with quality music, I really do not care that much.
Lost Horizon has unleashed one of the best power metal albums to come out in a long while. There was a little part of me that was afraid that this album would be the same old formula employed by many power metal bands. Thankfully, this is not the case. What Lost Horizon has been able to do is come out with an energetic and powerful album that any fans of metal should enjoy. Do yourselves a favor and pick up this amazing release.
Koch Records - 2001
By Rodrigo
/images/covers/losthorizon.jpg
Awakening the World was a release that I was definitely looking forward to. The buzz I was hearing and reading about them was great and I was very excited when I got the album in the mail. As it turned out everything I read and heard was true, Lost Horizon has come out with an amazing debut album.
After a quick instrumental, "The Quickening", the first song, "Heart of Storm", hits you with an incredible wave of energy and force. This song is one of the best of Awakening the World. It is fast, it has an excellent anthem chanting chorus (I can just imagine how this part would look like in a live setting) and the musicianship of the band is just incredible, the guitars played by the "Transcendental Protagonist" (more on that later) in the entire album are phenomenal. But the biggest asset that Lost Horizon has is singer "Etherial Mangnanimus". This guy just has an incredible voice and range. In each song he employs a different singing style and has no problems switching back and forth. He has jumped out as one of the best metal singers right now.
Another great song is "Sworn in the Metal Wind". This song features an excellent galloping rhythm and superb instrumental passages with plenty of guitar leads to drive you crazy with excitement. Plus, the singing varies from a more talkative style to soaring powerful vocals. "Denial of Fates" is another favorite of mine. It is one of the shortest songs of the album but it still packs quite a punch. The intro is very cool with the use of the keyboards and it also features and excellent chorus. "Welcome Back" is a little different from the rest because the keyboards take a more prominent role in the song but that is why it makes it such a great song. I also have to mention what an excellent song "The Kingdom of Will is". It is the longest song of Awakening the World at just over 9 minutes and it goes by so fast. It is filled with excellent vocal melodies, great bass lines ("Cosmic Antagonist"), unbelievable drumming ("Preternatural Transmogrifier"), and more tasty guitar playing. Everything that is great about Lost Horizon is featured in this song.
So you may be asking yourselves, "What is up with the band names?" It seems that the band has decided to employ themselves as metal saviors for the world. The album art reflects that perfectly with them coming from the horizon to save humanity from the corporate rats. The booklet is also interesting because more room is taken for the band to thank everybody (and I do mean everybody) than with the lyrics. I find this image sort of silly but as long as they come up with quality music, I really do not care that much.
Lost Horizon has unleashed one of the best power metal albums to come out in a long while. There was a little part of me that was afraid that this album would be the same old formula employed by many power metal bands. Thankfully, this is not the case. What Lost Horizon has been able to do is come out with an energetic and powerful album that any fans of metal should enjoy. Do yourselves a favor and pick up this amazing release.
