The Twilight Force guy definitely has the traditional power metal voice. Definitely reminds me of Rhapsody and the others.
The Fellowship guy has a really unique voice I haven’t really heard before. There some things he does with his voice that really stand out. I don’t know if it’s technically harder than what the Twilight guy can do, but it does make think “wow this guy is talented”. Example, in Atlas at 1:25 (when he sings “in fables”)
“Fickle is the trust that I, in fables, trust to see”
Or at 2:43 “guilt imbue”
“With guilt imbue ‘til I grow old”
Dude these lyrics are fxxking crazy, like Shakespeare or Sir Malory wrote them themselves or something. I hadn’t read any of them until now…
Yeah I don't mind that traditional PM voice, but can understand people like
@A88 being annoyed by it. Not my favourite vocal style either in all honesty, but if the music behind the vocals is great then I can roll with it.
As far as Fellowship vocals, yeah, they are unique and excellent. From what I read the guy was originally from the Prog scene, and said he wasn't sure if his vocals would fit into Power Metal. Turns out they're pretty much perfect for the genre, imo anyway. I believe he may also be classically trained, and guys and girls like that always have incredible control over their voices. Probably my favourite vocal section is in Saint Beyond the River...
Starting at 02:02... look, I ain't into dudes, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't swooning just a little. Also love how it transitions out from that into the guitar melodies.
Closest comparison I can think of, vocally, would be Mathias Blad from Falconer.
Great band, who I think even
@A88 is a fan of, and aren't what you'd consider traditional PM. Really good though.
Lyrically, yeah, Fellowship is also top notch. Maybe not too much of a surprise, considering they actually released a self-published novel alongside the album. Always nice when a band takes that side of things seriously too. Favourite lyrics for me are from Scars and Shrapnel Wounds. One of the best songs as a whole from the album in my opinion, but I just love this verse:
"'Cause there's always things that scream at me from the darkness
And there's always, yet more wars left to fight
But I wouldn't change this destiny if you asked me
'Cause isn't destiny just how we choose to live our lives?"
In general I just love how the song is balanced between "life is fucking difficult and painful" and "this made me who I am, I wouldn't change a second". Whereas with a certain Mr A. Friden it would be all misery and heartbreak. Or he'd be telling us he'll set us free or some bullshit.
But yeah, overall just a fantastic album by a bunch of dudes who clearly put a major amount of effort into their work. That's what I love about listening to good younger bands starting out - that passion, enthusiasm, taking risks and putting it all out there. It's what IF were doing with TJR 27 years ago, what DT were doing with Skydancer and The Gallery, what Soilwork were doing with Chainheart Machine/Predator's Portrait... these guys may become better musicians, by some metrics, over time... but nothing can replace that youthful exuberence that just radiates off albums by young, hungry bands.
Clayman is fantastic. Practically any legendary song would sound like shit if put through the Clayman 2020 filter. There's not a single song on Clayman I'd rate lower than 8 and most are 9 or 10. If good production mattered that much I'd be giving Foregone the same marks, rather than mostly 5 and 6's, so I think some of these takes are pretty exaggerated.
