Search - Skyfire :: Mind Revolution

Guys, can we please get more popularity for this band?

Matt Stoessel | Tolland, CT USA | 01/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"2 quick notes: 1) Timeless Departure was an amazing debut album. Not many bands top a phenomenal first album. Some bands can't (Andromeda) and some can (Lost Horizon). 2) WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DRUMS?!?!?! With those out of the way, I'll move on to say that I have owned Timeless Departure for long enough to officially be waiting for this album to come out. I loved the title track and....... The intro!!! Isn't that intro just beautiful?! And the title track... just, woah!!! Onto THIS album. The opening track isn't an intro this time, instead it's a 3:00 good intro to the band. Track 2 is better, though. The surprise is on track 3, however. "Colliding in Mind" has the fastest bass sound I've ever heard!!! And I've heard Blessings... by Dimmu (first song on Puritanical... - don't these long names drive you nuts?), and this is STILL faster. Not the drums or the guitars - just the bass. I do like that song quite a bit. When I was first deciding which one track to save to my computer, I was going ballistic over tracks 6 and the title track (9). That reminds me... the last 4 songs on Timeless Departure I couldn't wait to be over. There were no songs left to look forward to after the title track!!! Here, the title track doesn't show up until the end. You get to focus on the other 8 songs. Now what's so great about track 6? I dunno - personal preference. It's the same as why I love "The Departed" on The Dark Ride (Helloween) so much. I do also love the keys in these songs (and Mind Revolution's title track), but that's not the only reason. Look, if long death / soft black metal songs strike you (Endless War, Timeless Departure, Only Dust Moves, Nightmare (by Rotting Christ)), then this CD is for you. 2 songs are over 6 minutes. Onto the bonus tracks... the 2 songs off of Timeless Departure's quality stinks. Have you heard the earache records sampler that comes with ...the infinite, Astronomicon, or Tears of Mortal Solitude? The versions of the 2 Forest Stream songs on it stink, but because of quality. The songs are awesome, but, it's the quality. That's what these 2 on Skyfire's CD are like. One of the 4 is under 2 minutes and the other is a normal bonus track. About those drums... on Timeless, they were great. But now they sound like Soilwork, Andromeda, and Darkane drums. I don't like them. It is SO obvious to tell that these bands are from Sweden! (Not sure about Soilwork. If I'm wrong, put Dark Tranquility in their place.) Jeez, I'm not done yet! Onto comparing them to other bands: imagine Dark Moor's keyboards (not synths) plus the style of Dragonforce with death vocals plus the brutalness of Kalmah. Hope you've heard of these 3 bands - they're totally different from each other. This is FINALLY about all I have for you. When you get to it, please say if this novel of a review was helpful to you or not, and then go read some of my other ones. Thanks for staying tuned in!"

9.25/10 - Skyfire is back, and badder than before!

Mark R. Guglielmo | Wood Ridge, NJ United States | 06/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"SKYFIRE, a criminally underrated and still oft-unknown Swedish quintet, return in 2003 with their sophomore release, and there's nary the proverbial slump in sight. Enlisting once again the services of the legendary Abyss studios (with the lesser known Tommy Tagtren twisting the knobs), the sound is clean and crisp; the production is confident and powerful. In short: superb.SKYFIRE doesn't disappoint their loyal and growing fanbase with the follow-up to 2001's Timeless Departure, but rather offer an even stronger, far tighter 2nd album. Nine tracks that demonstrate just how good metal can be. How metal doesn't have to compromise and become more "accessible" or more "catchy." Which is strangely ironic, considering how damned catchy and accessible Mind Revolution winds up turning out. Hmph. But I digress. Let's delve into this soon-to-be masterpiece and see what's what.Less symphonic than before, less shredding than before, but far more bludgeoning in the riff department equals a much more satisfying death metal platter to quench your hunger for meaty metal. Unlike some of their *cough* Swedish peers, SKYFIRE has [thankfully] realized that they can continue to incorporate tasteful and even powerful keyboards to their mix without demolishing the metallic aspects of their music. Martin Hanner and Andreas Edlund's keyboards are incredibly tight this go `round, less manic and overbearing as they sometimes were on the debut, and weave intricately and impeccably in and around the delicious guitar lines. The same duo's guitarwork is nothing short of brilliant as well. Technically proggy at times (a good chunk of "Shapes Of Insanity"), evil and guttural at others ("Blinded By Euphoria," which I swear sounds like the bastard offspring of latter-era IMMORTAL and DISSECTION), ripping and incendiary at still others ("Nightmares Nevermore," "Colliding In Mind"), this is a guitar duo who's grown and matured quite a bit over the past 24 months. Drummer Joakim Jonsson puts forth his best effort yet, even incorporating some blasting sections! during "Shapes...," and "Caged," incidentally 2 of the stronger songs on the album. However, it is Henrik Wenngren's impassioned, tortured vocal shrieks and growls that push this album from being very good to must-own. I definitely don't remember his sounding this confident and aggressive on the debut.Let it suffice to say that there's quite a bit here for every type of metalhead. Mind Revolution is an amalgam of so many styles; I won't do the band a disservice by pigeonholing them with a label. Rest assured, if you like guitar riffs, melody, superb extreme vocals and enthusiastic, damned catchy metal, you'll find something about this record to keep coming back to. Surely going to stand tall at the end of 2003.
-RoyalCarnage.com"