Friday, June 15, 2012

Wishdoom-Helepolis (2011)

Post #200
European power metal is a growing genre at the moment. There are dozens of bands out there to be discovered if you like the style of metal that includes DragonForce, Savatage, Iced Earth, Blind Guardian, etc... In the last several years, one particular indie-label out of Italy has been signing bands that follow the influences of some of those artists: Metal On Metal Records. One band from this label that has caught my ear is Wishdoom. Wishdoom are a band from Greece, delivering their style of power/doom metal with a passion. Today I'll look at their debut release from last year, Helepolis.

Helepolis is a solid power metal effort by Whisdoom. The primary formula for their songs is heavy, mid-tempo guitar riffs, clean and wailing vocals, a somber or melancholic tone, omnipresent keyboards backing most of the songs, and melodic electric guitar solos. If I were to compare their sound to other bands I'm familiar with, I might use names like Queensryche, Fates Warning, or even Dream Theater. Wishdoom do show elements of progressive metal, but they primarily focus on traditional song-structures featuring themes of fantasy, medieval battles and mythology.

From my perspective of classic and thrash-oriented metal, I really enjoyed listening to Helepolis. I hope you take a minute to listen to them as well. You can buy their CD or download this album through Metal-On-Metal Records' website, Century Media, or CDBaby.

My recommended tracks from Helepolis:
-Helepolis
-Crystal World (On parts of this one, I can really hear some influence from traditional thrash almost like early Metallica)
-My Wish Your Doom
-Guardians of Steel (On this track in particular, Wishdoom experiment a little with a couple different guitar tones. They blend together well, and help give a new dimension to their sound.)
-Screaming Blade
-Wishdoom (This is an instrumental track. It features a piano intro which sets a somber tone with it's minor key tone, then the guitars come in and you're treated to a 5-minute jam of quality, traditional heavy metal!)

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