French power metal band Invictus were totally unknown to me before I grabbed 'Black Heart' for a very cheap price. I learned, that this is the band's debut album. Before this, they went under the name Quark, who release a couple of albums.

Invictus are about symphonic power metal (the record company advertising this as progressive is just out of proportion), and pretty simplistic way, stripped off anything too technical and building up catchy songs, which sometimes drift towards heavy metal ('Car Crash'). That would be perfect way for my liking, if only the song material was good. Sometimes the music is fully decent (e.g. 'Depression - Part 2', 'Miracle' [a killer song!!!], 'The Ancestor'), but when it is mainly average or somewhat above that, it is hard to take 'Black Heart' for something else than an okay album, I'm afraid. Good bits aren't heard too often. Generally the songwriting is simply too familiar and there isn't much in vein of surprises to be heard, not enough hooks thrown, so forgetting what one just heard is happening too often. Some of this is can be fixed with repeated listening, of course, but still the album doesn't hit quite as powerfully as the band's performance...

...Which is very good throughout the album. The vocals aren't of typical helium-style but more mid-ranged, and the vocalist's French roots can be heard in his English pronunciation, but still it's not an irksome manner. The vocals also portrait different emotions pretty well, bringing more variation into them. And Andi Deris style sighs on 'Whispers' must be mentioned... The darker vocals are definitely a welcome, unusual feature, and backing vocals are also created in pleasant way. Guitars are entertainingly heavy, and I like the soloing, too. The band members' performances are very solid indeed, which can be heard well thanks to well-balanced mixing job. The orchestral bits are created with synthesizers, which didn't come as a surprise. Powerful production job raises the interestingness towards the music.

"Invictus" is Latin for "unconquered". Sadly it's me who's left unconquered by this band and 'Black Heart'. It's so close to be a goodie, but still so far away... The vocals are the only individual bit about Invictus, and that is not enough, not for someone like me, or who this kind of music isn't close to the heart anyways. If you are seeking for symphonic power metal, then you might want to investigate Invictus, because you could make so much worse discoveries in that field of metal music. Just not on the same level as, let's say Kamelot, for example.

Rating: 6+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
05/07/2008 22:10