KALEDON – Carnagus – Emperor of the Darkness
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 24-05-2017
Serving up power metal of the triumphant, airy variety since 1998, Kaledon return with "Carnagus- Emperor of the Darkness", their ninth studio album. Soaring, majestic vocals, guitar and keyboard runs, double bass throwdowns, and loads of sing-a-long choruses make you think of Rhapsody (Of Fire) meets Skylark or Labyrinth in a dark alley – especially when checking into "Eyes Without Life" and the sword hits that signal "Trapped on the Throne".
You get the feeling for all the pomp and circumstance though that we’ve been through this material more than a few times if you give the genre even a cursory glance. It’s as if Kaledon studied the expected norms lyrically and musically to just dished them out, without gaining any new ground. Latest vocalist Michele Guaitoli has that falsetto, dramatic flair that keeps the proceedings respectable especially during the moving "Telepathic Messages" which draws into some extreme nuances with background vocals and a killer twin guitar harmony lead break. Otherwise, this record contains passable but not outstanding material – never a recipe to gain more to the Kaledon fold.