My Refuge have a record deal and an album out! After favourably reviewing their self-financed EP in 2013 it appears sanity has prevailed and someone has signed them up for their debut full length album…and here it is! Largely based around recognisably Italian Power Metal (I mean that as a compliment), the band have chosen once more to shun the traditional Dragon-adorned approach and brought in a few more Progressive and Melodic musical influences to great effect.
Opening track ‘A Storm Is Coming’ follows nicely on from their previous work – still very Italian in approach (many Italian Power Metal bands just seem to have their own inimitable style, largely more theatrical and optimistic, unlike similar styles purveyed by German and Swedish ones for instance), reminding me a little of Domine, it’s a good start, full of drama and energy. ‘The Cage (Demon In My Eyes)’ has a sniff of Sanvoisen and an excellent catchy chorus that nudges it nicely towards Melodic/Symphonic Metal. A very perceptible arm-around-the-shoulder of Blind Guardian happens in third track ‘Endless Night’, introducing Hansi Kursch style lower vocals and harmonies into the chorus. It’s kind of mid-nineties BG though, when they were more Power Metal and able to do what My Refuge do here, showcasing a fantastic lead guitar opening riff and Thomen Stauch era double-kick drumming to compliment. It’s a great new element to their own distinctive sound and I was really pleased to hear it crop up again to varying degrees on ‘This Wall’, ‘On Wings Of Wax’ and the aptly titled ‘Somewhere’, which is more than good enough to be on my favourite BG album “Somewhere Far Beyond”, with it’s intricate guitar-work and wonderfully layered chorus – it’s a great track!
There’s a couple of nice Power Ballads elsewhere on “A Matter Of Supremacy” and a bit of Secret Sphere type Melodic Metal with ‘Living In Anger’. There’s also really cool kind of inverted Power Metal track worth note called ‘The Raven’, which gallops along, hooves a blur, totally assured of itself in the verse and then pulls up, throws it’s rider off and relaxes a little, munching a nice bit of grass for a lead break and chorus. This works really well, and even though that metaphorical rider climbs back on again and has another gallop, he is deservedly ejected a couple more times to great effect. Great fun…for everyone except the Rider I guess…
But I keep returning to those tracks with the splashes of Blind Guardian in them. Unlike bands such as maybe Persuader or Savage Circus, My Refuge shoe-horn it into their own existing style, more like the approach Orden Ogan have, albeit from a different BG era. It’s a musical, as well as a vocal thing y’see, it’s a vibe or feeling, something My Refuge have tried and thought “Hey that sounds cool” (but in Italian of course…) “let’s go with that and see where it leads”. It’s not a rip-off, it’s a way of constructing a part of a song that Blind Guardian just happen to be the best known for doing. And ‘Somewhere’ is an excellent track to finish the album with – it makes you want to put the whole thing on again. My Refuge have previously put down their roots, now they are starting to grow, I look forward to seeing how tall they can get.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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