This certain Valinor hail from Poland. Encyclopaedia Metallum alone list three other bands with same name. Valinor means "Land of the Valar" in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. The album and song titles do not unveil, if these Poles cover legendary fantasy writings in their lyrics, though. 'Hidden Beauty' is Valinor's sophomore full length album to date, released already in 2006, but sent for reviewing now.

The intro 'Prologue' opens album with Mid-Eastern vibes, and they also appear on the following title track. It also presents the band's Slavonic roots with folkish musical bits in its melody work. Basically, the song is heavy metal with dark feelings. Growled/grunted vocals are more of black metal style, reminding me quite a lot of Vorphalack, especially on older Samael albums. 'The Voice of Space' bring forth the band's classical music influences, which are again mixed with heavy metal. It has already became evident, that Valinor can conjure up some spellbinding melodies together with dramatic, dark riffing.

'The Funeral' boost the classical music elements, and the song sound pretty much like Old Man's Child (especially on 'The Pagan Prosperity' [1997]). Fantastically titled 'A Hand Of A Dead' with its baroque-meets-classical music quickens up a bit, when compared to previous mid-paced material. Shadowbreed and Bifrost are two bands. that now come to my mind. 'Hidden Beauty - The Beginning' is an absolutely beautiful instrumental (non-distorted guitars and synths). There is no beauty hidden here, it's all audible! Not similar, but sometimes close to Iced Earth's 'Dracula', and then again, something very different. 'Requiem' bring back the metal, but still keeps up the dramatic facet. 'The Bloodless Face' builds up momentum with big synths before launching into another slice of classical music saturated dark heavy metal. Horror synthesizer instrumental 'Epilogue' closes the album. The synths aren't in a big role on every song, but rather invisible (if you can put it that way!) at times.

The production sounds a bit cheap, and its power level is rather inferior. The vocals to suffer from this. By the way, non-English ancestry can be heard in pronunciation. Back to the production: It is clear, so every element are audible in the mix. The drums sound quite boxy, and the guitars a bit blunt.

'Hidden Beauty' is somewhat unique at its best. The songs include enough hooks and generally, the production is still okay, and does not cause one to abandon the album because of it. A nice acquaintance, this!

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
11/04/2012 00:30