Now here’s an album that’s taken a while to get completed – about 20 years in fact! The majority of this release was demoed up back in 2001, but the band were put on hold and the members went off to do other projects (The Eternal Suffering, Casus Belli etc.), until in 2015 the guitarist, bassist and drummer revisited Sacred Outcry to let it see the light of day at last. The final piece of the puzzle was put in place with the weighty addition of Yannis Papadopoulos (Beast In Black) who made his vocal contribution back in 2018 and after all the finishing touches were added afterwards – “Damned For All Time” has emerged.
I like the tongue-in-cheek idea of calling the intro piece ‘Timeless’, which paves the way for an impressive album of Melodic Symphonic Power Metal, nicely reliant on guitar rather than any over-bearing orchestration, Sacred Outcry use it in a more scene-enhancing way. This talented Greek band have all the bases you’d hope for covered – ‘Crystal Tears’ and ‘Farewell’ have the “epic” side nailed, backed up ably by the more mid-tempo Metal heaviness of ‘Legion Of The Fallen’ and ‘Where Ancient Gods Are Still Hailed’. ‘Sacred Outcry’ and ‘Lonely Man’ kick the tempo superbly into scampering Power Metal territory, there’s a heartfelt ballad (‘Scared To Cry’) and the 14:30 of the title track seems to easily cram all elements into one song!
The tracks on offer here really do seem to easily embrace 20 years of the genre quite emphatically – they’re well executed, meticulously arranged and delivered with professional class. Yannis Papadopoulos adds a vocal theatricality to the tracks, but stops short of the all-out bombasity of his main band, and although he does a great job, utilising most of his vocal prowess, at times it feels like the songs were written with a previous vocalist in mind (a little like Roy Khan’s debut for Kamelot way back in the day for instance). It also might seem a little evident that a few songs sound a hint over-worked and over-polished feeling, but this can also be a benefit with Symphonic Metal. When I said that all bases are covered, it kind of comes through that there may be a concise effort to try and please everyone rather than really committing to a part of the genre that suits the band perfectly. But if this is just chapter one and there is more to come (before another 20 years goes by hopefully…) then there’s plenty of chance for the band to grow into their own identity, maybe with a permanent singer on board.
(7.5/10 Andy Barker)
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