Excalion, with singer Jarmo Pääkkönen, one of the countries greatest musical talents, is thee new Melodic Power Metal hope from Finland. The powerful, but at the same time incredibly melo... more »dious band presents ten perfectly composed and arranged Metal pearls. This album is a "must buy" for all fans of Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica or Nightwish.« less
All Artists:Excalion Title:Waterlines Members Wishing: 1 Total Copies: 0 Label:Lmp Original Release Date: 1/1/2007 Re-Release Date: 4/24/2007 Genres:Pop, Rock, Metal Style:Pop Metal Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC:693723793726
Synopsis
Album Description
Excalion, with singer Jarmo Pääkkönen, one of the countries greatest musical talents, is thee new Melodic Power Metal hope from Finland. The powerful, but at the same time incredibly melodious band presents ten perfectly composed and arranged Metal pearls. This album is a "must buy" for all fans of Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica or Nightwish.
""Waterlines" is the second release from Finnish melodic power metal band Excalion. There are some progressive stylings here, too, and, right or wrong, Excalion has drawn a lot of comparisons to Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica.
About half the songs on this album are flat-out amazing. The other half are decent, but have a generic, unmemorable feel to them. There are no "bad" songs on this album.
Jarmo Pääkkönen, the lead singer, makes this album great. He sings with more passion and exuberance than virtually any other vocalist. He makes the good songs great and the middling songs interesting.
On the whole, this album's good songs are good enough and the lead singer strong enough to carry this album."
Finnish metal
G. Richards | Overland Park, KS | 11/02/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Excalion is a new metal band from Finland, with a sound that is reminiscent of Iron Maiden. Waterlines is their second release, and their best to-date. While they have been classed as a power metal band, their style is much more along the lines of old school metal. The songs favor dense instrumental arrangements, with layers of guitar and keyboard. The vocals are mid-range, with some anthemic choruses. To their credit, the band avoids using double-time drums. Instead, most of the songs use the traditional 4:4 beat, while occasionally, the drummer uses syncopated rolls to good effect. Most of the songs here are quite good, with interesting melodic ideas. The only real drawback is that on some tracks, particularly toward the end, the melodic themes are too complex. Still, all things considered, this is a strong CD from a band that deserves worldwide recognition.
"
Outstanding Cd
Aaron Bruehl | Millstadt, IL USA | 08/08/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Great Metal band from Finland with excellent vocals. This is the 2nd album for the group and was much better then the first album Primal Exhale which had some great songs, but didn't have what Waterlines brought out. Waterlines as a whole is a great album, but if you like epic songs listen to Soaking Ground. The first 3 tracks are also great. Buy this cd if you love good metal especially progressive/power metal. It's a must have."
More close to classic "prog" metal than modern power metal
Timothy Shane Lamb | 08/16/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It's a very solid album without any real fillers. It has a feel that is close to classic prog metal, because it doesn't have as much of the typical "horse hoof" drums as a lot of modern power metal or prog metal bands have. It has lots of good straight forward rythms, which keeps it from being too busy. I like complex intricate music, but it's nice to listen to more basic and straight forward sounding grooves in music too. The vocalist is mid range, but with a few higher pitches when it calls for it at the end of certain words, and could fit into the 80's progressive scene. The art work is nice too :)"
Very solid power metal.
Robert Gamble | Falmouth, MA United States | 07/16/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This CD struck a very good chord with me, mainly due to the vocals which I characterize as 'clear but with character'. The singer, Jarmo Pääkkönen, has a rich, almost mellow singing voice but can add a bit of grit and emotion when the songs crank up a notch. The best example of this can be found on "Losing Time" which starts quiet and then kicks it into a higher gear (especially at the 2:55 or so mark when Pääkkönen really lets loose). Every once in awhile his voice seems to hit a note just slightly off, but I consider him one of my favorite singers in metal.
The music is generally pretty straightforward with some nice melodies. The earlier songs are faster, heavier and a bit more memorable. The later songs tend to blur together and feel a bit more generic, but it's still quality music. It works particularly well in a mix of different styles of metal since then the 'sameness' of some of the songs is less noticeable."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
