Shining Fury Last Sunrise
Metal Blade 3984-14468-2 27.01.04
By Anna Novitzky
We all know people who live in the past. The teacher who thinks its 1974, the hippie down the road who wishes they were still in the Summer of Love these are all tragic. But one cant help but feel especially sorry for anybody stuck in the 80s. Big hair, spandex, and dear lord! power metal; its all too terrible to contemplate.
Last Sunrise starts off interestingly weirdly, with tinkling Close Encounters-style synths and creepy children muttering gibberish. Sadly, from there on it becomes disappointingly bland. Lurching from song to song like a three-legged donkey with no sense of direction, Shining Fury consistently miss the soul-searing epic tone they seem to be going for, and end up sounding like a disturbing mix of Bon Jovi and Run For the Hills-era Iron Maiden. To be fair, the soaring guitar solos can be moving at times, but its nothing we havent heard before. Often. The album is liberally scattered with the traditional we-are-hard-yet-mystical sound effects of thunderstorms and howling wolves, which simply add to the generic predictability of the sound. A moment of surprise comes with Memories', which begins with an American couple arguing, à la a soap opera, and then breaks out into saxophones. The song sounds as if its been spliced in from somewhere else entirely, and, though amusing, does nothing for the atmosphere. Unfortunately, by this time the album is long lost anyway.
It isnt that their spirit is unworthy, just misplaced. Theres virtually no way to do this kind of thing inventively any more the genre is one big cliché. Move on, Shining Fury. Get with the times. Im sure theres somewhere you can go for help with that 80s addiction.
Official Shining Fury Website
Official Metalblade website
Metal Blade 3984-14468-2 27.01.04
By Anna Novitzky
We all know people who live in the past. The teacher who thinks its 1974, the hippie down the road who wishes they were still in the Summer of Love these are all tragic. But one cant help but feel especially sorry for anybody stuck in the 80s. Big hair, spandex, and dear lord! power metal; its all too terrible to contemplate.
Last Sunrise starts off interestingly weirdly, with tinkling Close Encounters-style synths and creepy children muttering gibberish. Sadly, from there on it becomes disappointingly bland. Lurching from song to song like a three-legged donkey with no sense of direction, Shining Fury consistently miss the soul-searing epic tone they seem to be going for, and end up sounding like a disturbing mix of Bon Jovi and Run For the Hills-era Iron Maiden. To be fair, the soaring guitar solos can be moving at times, but its nothing we havent heard before. Often. The album is liberally scattered with the traditional we-are-hard-yet-mystical sound effects of thunderstorms and howling wolves, which simply add to the generic predictability of the sound. A moment of surprise comes with Memories', which begins with an American couple arguing, à la a soap opera, and then breaks out into saxophones. The song sounds as if its been spliced in from somewhere else entirely, and, though amusing, does nothing for the atmosphere. Unfortunately, by this time the album is long lost anyway.
It isnt that their spirit is unworthy, just misplaced. Theres virtually no way to do this kind of thing inventively any more the genre is one big cliché. Move on, Shining Fury. Get with the times. Im sure theres somewhere you can go for help with that 80s addiction.
Official Shining Fury Website
Official Metalblade website
