These Finns are no doubt open to offers from Hollywood to score the next big fantasy flick that comes out, hell they would probably settle for something fashioned as a TV series and no doubt they would be very good at it. So they should be as well as the group has no less than 8 musicians within their ranks playing violins, viola, cello, contrabass and the more expected tools found in symphonic metal bands. They also have a damn fine singer in the form of Armi Päivinen who has a not too overbearing operatic stance to go with the backing coral work that peppers their epic music. Despite the album title and the warrior stood bristling on the album cover though Ravenia’s debut full length album strikes as a bit of a pedestrian fare. Sure there is a certain degree of drama but as things develop one thing that seems absent is any real sense of danger. I was pre-warned offering this to our regular scribe of all things of this nature by being told it was a bit too light even for his tastes and can only agree after repeated listens; where is the peril here, where is the real passion? It all moves along without any degree of tension and if it were a film it would suffer severely and although no doubt be a real delight for the kids, would be far too bland for anyone looking for more than a U certificate viewing experience.
If that is what you are looking for then these 8 tracks running just short of an hour will not disappoint. Opener ‘For Those We Forsakened’ starts out like Equilibrium gearing up for one of their head spinning voyages of discovery but quickly establishes itself as much more chilled in orientation with the soothing, near lullaby vocals of Päivinen. The heartstrings are snared but the expected bodice ripping and heaving bosoms of lust are far from shaking. Once you get used to that idea and the fact that much of the rest of the material here is going to follow the same path you will no doubt be willing to persevere or go looking for something with a little bit more oomph. After all a band like Nightwish may do the odd song like this but they certainly know when to deliver a barnstormer of a song and there is nothing sadly of this nature here; it probably doesn’t help that the average length of these numbers is a good 7 minutes either. Sure the second track ‘Into Oblivion’ like others here, may gallop in and act as though it’s going to storm the barricades and rescue the princess but after building anticipation settles down to another ballad-etched lite and airy vocal flow that’s never going to take you off to Never Never Land unless you fall asleep in the process of listening to it. I do agree that this is music that may appeal to those that appreciate the music of Epica and composers such as Hans Zimmer, it is certainly evident the band do. Check out the video for ‘We All died For Honor’ and see if musically the melody at beginning does not remind a bit of the latter’s theme from ‘True Romance’ before going all Disney light. Despite the accompanying visual elements ‘Where Eagles Dare’ this is not. So there you have it basically, unfortunately good intentions aside this simply fails to engage me but its early days yet and everyone involved shows talent. With a bit more drive in the future who knows, Ravenia could really be onto something too.
(6/10 Pete Woods)
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