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On disc: Voices Of Destiny



From The Ashes - Claudia Ehrhardt - 6 stars
Power Dive - Lars Bjørn - 8 stars


www.voices-of-destiny.de







Power Dive

Power Dive
(Massacre Records - 2012)


The well-established band Voices Of Destiny made a scoop when they recruited Maike Holzmann as their new singer, she has lifted the performances with her soprano voice, and now they release their second album since the start in 2004. Only problem that they have is that they are letting go of the brakes from time to time, they should, because they have the power and confidence to get very successful if they get the last 10% right energy into the songs. Starting with Power Dive and a good dominance by the drums giving a superb harmony between vocals and rhythms. My Separation is already highlighted on YouTube and we get lots of symphonic gothic power from Maike Holzmann. Dreams Awake hits the style perfectly with melodic symphony metal which stands as one of the best songs on the album. Untouchable provides hard guitars that sparks their high ambitions away in a good epical direction. Being Worth stands for brilliant building of the song to an exploding level where the power gets what it deserves. Dedication and Your Hands are two songs that could have been much more in focus, but still they can not put themselves to release the damned brakes so the songs could get the right musical content. Shame because I am sure that they could have done it. But a good and promising album that benefits from their new vocalist Maike Holzmann to raise the level many times.



8 stars

Lars Bjørn
 

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From The Ashes

From The Ashes
(Massacre Records - 2010)


Voices Of Destiny is German outfit presenting their debut From The Ashes and trying to find their place in the female-fronted symphonic metal scene. And with the opener Ray Of Hope they show similarities to bands like Nightwish, Epica and Leaves' Eyes. The band was founded in 2004 by guitarist Chris Gutjahr and bassist Jens Hartwig and in 2007 they released the demo Red Winter Snow, now they are signed by Massacre Records and their debut is in stores. The opening of Twist The Knife reminds me of some late 80's hard rock tune, but soon they offer heavy riffs and symphonic sounds. Maike Holzmann is obviously doing better when not hitting the high notes, her voice isn't strong enough then. They add some harsh vocals á la Epica, but the songs don't have the same quality level. On the other hand this is Voices Of Destiny's debut album... Icecold begins with whispered words, then piano and vocals. The balladesque opening leads into a riff-based symphonic track. Apathy gives me mix feelings when it comes to the vocals, coz I like Maike's vocal line, but again her voice gets thin when singing high notes. The piano-based ballad Bitter Vision also shows some flaws in Maike's vocal performance, but she can improve! With about 5 minutes the song isn't extremely long, but they can't keep the listeners interest til the end... For Hourglass they speed up, tempi changes make it more interesting, but partly Maike's voice seems to drown a bit... But with twists and turns this one is quite interesting. Interesting interaction between Chris Gutjahr's guitar and Lukas Palme's keyboard towards the end. With Not The One they close this chapter.
Okay, Voices Of Destiny aren't presenting something new, but From The Ashes is a decent album. I miss some real catchy stuff, something which hooks you up immediately... They haven't developed their own sound yet, but that takes time. At least a band to keep an eye on. So genre fans, check out Voices Of Destiny to make up your mind!


6 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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