• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

I'm not exactly sure why, but Cryonic's Kings of Avalon rubs me the wrong way. The first time I listened, it sounded so flat and uninspired, not what I expect from my Power Metal, especially Scandinavian Power Metal (Cryonic hail from Sweden.) I felt like it couldn't be this dull. Several more listens would be required.

I have now forced myself through the album a few more times and I can safely say Kings of Avalon IS dull. Recycled riffs, clichéd song titles ("Tear Down the Walls," "Free Like an Eagle") and the cheesiest album art since Manowar's Into Glory Ride add up to a painfully derivative and generally uninteresting album. Honestly, you've heard absolutely everything on Kings of Avalon before and, for the most part, done better.

The performances are good and it isn't like the band is untalented. Singer Bigswede has a fine metal voice. It is strong, with a bit of gruffness, and he has a good range. None of the other band members do anything spectacular but neither do they embarrass themselves. However, not even the legendary Udo Dirkschneider (or someone who sounds remarkably like him, there was no info about his appearance on the album included with the promo) can save songs featuring his distinctive vocals, "Angels Calling" or "Demon." I mean, the chorus of "Living on the Road" goes like this; "We are living on the road, roa-oh-oad! What can you be told? We never rest!" Vonnegut, this is not. It's not even Bon Jovi. At least he dressed his homage to life on tour with a cowboy metaphor. The ballad, "Seven Doors," could easily be labeled a weapon of mass destruction. I haven't suffered through a song that sickly sweet since Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home."

This all adds up to, what sounds like, a conscious effort to produce a "Power Metal" album by a bunch of people who have only a cursory understanding of the genre. I can't believe this was intentional on the band's part, but Cryonic are dangerously close to becoming a caricature of what they truly want to be. I hate to trash a band that seems genuine, but Cryonic missed the mark by a country mile with Kings of Avalon.