Magic Kingdom Metallic Tragedy
Limb Music Products March 22nd, 2004
By Jason Jordan
It takes a lot of effort to be innovative within a genre. Magic Kingdom fail at the former, but their most recent opus isnt entirely devoid of good moments. All involved musicians are adept on their instruments, while most of the solos tend to be impressive. The group traipses through four and five minute songs during the stint of Metallic Tragedy. Each track feels like a mini-epic, and maybe thats the bands intentions. Child of the Nile, The Iron Mask, and Flying Pyramids are whimsical journeys that conjure images of castles, dragons and uh, more dragons. It doesnt help that the cover artwork is laden with those fictional beasts.
Venturing into the first nine songs results in a half-hearted, power metal experience. The real surprise is the thirteen-plus minute title track that brings the album to a close. Why didnt they use some of these things in other songs?! Theres chanting, female operatic vocals, growling, and distorted vox here. I cant relay how refreshing it was to hear an Into Eternity-esque cameo within this disc! The group really captured my attention with this particular outing and, fortunately, its the longest song on the record. But, I cant figure out why they wouldnt want to riddle the rest of Metallic Tragedy with similar attributes. If they had, maybe then this wouldve been worth a look. Otherwise, I cant recommend Magic Kingdom to anyone but diehard, power metal fans, and those who have penchants for band names that sound like they should be affiliated with Disney.
6/10
Official Limb Music Products website
Limb Music Products March 22nd, 2004
By Jason Jordan
It takes a lot of effort to be innovative within a genre. Magic Kingdom fail at the former, but their most recent opus isnt entirely devoid of good moments. All involved musicians are adept on their instruments, while most of the solos tend to be impressive. The group traipses through four and five minute songs during the stint of Metallic Tragedy. Each track feels like a mini-epic, and maybe thats the bands intentions. Child of the Nile, The Iron Mask, and Flying Pyramids are whimsical journeys that conjure images of castles, dragons and uh, more dragons. It doesnt help that the cover artwork is laden with those fictional beasts.
Venturing into the first nine songs results in a half-hearted, power metal experience. The real surprise is the thirteen-plus minute title track that brings the album to a close. Why didnt they use some of these things in other songs?! Theres chanting, female operatic vocals, growling, and distorted vox here. I cant relay how refreshing it was to hear an Into Eternity-esque cameo within this disc! The group really captured my attention with this particular outing and, fortunately, its the longest song on the record. But, I cant figure out why they wouldnt want to riddle the rest of Metallic Tragedy with similar attributes. If they had, maybe then this wouldve been worth a look. Otherwise, I cant recommend Magic Kingdom to anyone but diehard, power metal fans, and those who have penchants for band names that sound like they should be affiliated with Disney.
6/10
Official Limb Music Products website
