Heavenly's 'Dust to Dust' was quite cheap and it has a vampire theme, so I gave it a try. This is the French symphonic power metal band's third album and as you might have guessed, first I hear from them.

"Symphonic" is a big obstacle for me. It's usually those same kind of compositional solutions from classical music. And it seems to be same with this one. Well, what a surprise! Same goes with Heavenly's music; it's all so familiar and usual. If you want name dropping, I think Helloween, Gamma Ray and Rhapsody are enough said. I like basic heavy metal parts much more than this symphonic thing, but there's nothing new introduced. The main theme is a battle between good and evil. Therefore there's darker, heavier and more melacholic songs, but also joyous ones. Sometimes the band manages to be really grand, but a lot of time simply pompous. Overlong songs are simply too much and what about the album's length then? Long story plus instrumental parts make a hell of a lot of music! This is a real tough task on one listening. I wonder why they included 'Miracle's new version, because it's the biggest bag of clichés I've heard for some time. Playing is very good, but that's not a surprise.

Vocals are in vein of ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske, Edguy's Tobias Sammett and at some point I had to check out the booklet, if Gamma Ray man Kai Hansen was guesting on the album, but no he was not! So, it's high-pitched and vibration is used. Mr Sotto can sing for sure, but his voice is too thin for my liking. A lot of choirs are used throughout the album, backing up his voice. And it works to some point, but I soon got an overdose of these choirs. The band's name, the theme and lyrics made me think Heavenly are a Christian band, but I'm not sure about it. The lyrics are partly good, but some just as clichéd as the music. While the sound is clear, it misses something from the lower end, leaving a feeling that it could have been more powerful.

I'm sure Heavenly worked hard for this album. No matter how hard they worked, they did not manage to do something unique. And the length is really a problem here! Both the songs and the album itself. Some of 'Dust to Dust' is simply too saccharine for my liking.

Rating: 6 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/08/2005 11:37