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This is, I think, the first release from this Spanish power/speed metal band. They have several albums out, and maybe the later ones are better. This review is meant as a tonic, because I have read several rhapsodic reviews of this CD, one of them here. And while this is not a bad CD, it is nowhere near that great.

Red Wine play a very generic, keyboardy brand of power metal with the usual speedy riffs, high-pitched vocals and double-bass drum abuse. This is very happy-sounding metal, enough so to make Angra sound dark and hard-edged. The guitar sound is clean, the keyboards riff off classico-speedy passages, the drums go duh-guh duh-guh – this is very bland stuff that only the most complacent power-metal fan will love. The only actively offensive element of the sound are the Spanish vocals. And I think with those you can either get past them or you can’t. I can’t. With the happy-sappy melodies already pushing things the Spanish singing just makes the whole thing sound pretty gay. Watch for the Blues Brothers riff on "En Isengard" – you will lunge for the barf bag.

The package is a very flimsy digipack, though it has nice art by the awesome Luis Royo. Not one of his better paintings. Red Wine should take lessons from Skylark, who also use Royo art for covers, but always one of the paintings with the hot chick sticking her ass out – that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Lyrics are – surprise – all in Spanish, so I cannot say if they suck, or what.

This is very blah. The songs don’t have much identity, and run together. "Hijos" is ok as background music, but simply has not got the substance for anything more. If you are a power metal fan who can’t get enough you might want to get this, since there is nothing actively bad about it. But if you are the slightest bit discriminating in your power metal tastes, you can skip this.