Twilight Force – “At the Heart of Wintervale”
Alternative title: "Kickass Dragon Tunes vol. 4"
While it might be true that you can't judge a book by its cover, that principle sure as shit doesn't apply to the covers of Twilight Force albums. The band shows you exactly what you're gonna get up front – i.e. OTT fantasy-themed power metal as loveably corny as it's virtuosic and self-aware.
"At the Heart of Wintervale" hardly spends one second before serving exactly that to you by every trick of the trade: Neck-breaking leads, choir-emulating keys, and a pace as though specifically designed to ride into battle and slaughter orcs from a horseback. And if that doesn't sound awesome to you, get the hell offa my website. You suck, and you should be ashamed.
I didn't hear the previous TF album, 2019's "Dawn of the Dragonstar", for the, on my part, kinda petty reason that they got a new lead singer. You know, huge part of the band's identity and all that. And so much other music needs my attention. But as it turns out, that new Italian dude, Trick or Treat vocalist Alessandro Conti (or Allyon, as he's named in TF), fucking wails.
It's evident from the beginning, but especially in the first verse of "Sunlight Knight". Which, by the way, initially seems like one of the less cheesy tracks on here, its verse being in a minor key and its chorus melody reminding of Avantasia when they were at their best, but suddenly breaks out into a full-fledged salsa section, ending almost in pure calypso.
A lot of the time, Twilight Force aren't writing memorable songs rather than simply pressing the power metal button. But for the most part, what they do works, due to their technical proficiency and obvious love for the genre.
This says a lot about TF and their kin. Not only are they musically proficient and well-diversified; they're also obviously tongue-in-cheek. Just like their album covers, their lyrics have so many dragons and so much fantasy imagery in them that it's long passed the verge of being laughable.
But the thing here is, we're laughing with them, not at them. I mean, how could you not love lines like these from the title track:
A hero, lost and cold
Came upon ruins in the snow
There in the dark halls
He found a sеcret tome
And from the pagе he read a glowing name out loud
And the dragon awoke
Indeed, the absolute best song on here is "Dragonborn", which, with its downright silly chamber music intro and interludes, manages to combine the genre's very daftest elements with a shameless major-key, Eurovision style melody and lyrics just as empowering as those of Pantera songs like "Becoming" and "A New Level", the synergy being nothing short of life-affirming:
One day you will be the one to reach the sky
Ride on wings of dreams and fly away
Dreams come true, your fate will come to life
Use the magic in your heart, Dragonborn
Some people will only see empty clichés here. Those of us, however, who've not only managed to actually live our goddamn dream, but are also able to take heavy metal for the childhood dream escapism it is, can fucking feel the strengthening energy.
The word 'epic' has taken its fair share of abuse for the last decade, but in this case, it's a justified use. Keeping all the bombastic promises of especially their pioneering peers Rhapsody (of Fire), TF often has cinematic qualities. The many string and wind instruments, along with bells, chimes, and an actual choir, provides more than just a backdrop, often being integrated into the breaks and arrangements, and often resulting in a Disney-esque expression.
This is most noticeable in the two +10 minute tracks. However, those are also the ones that disengage me the most. While this is, like I said initially, done by every trick of the trade, it sometimes feels as though TF are more focused on telling fantasy tales than writing logically coherent – indeed, coherently necessary – song structures.
Just like their album covers, Twilight Force's lyrics have so many dragons and so much fantasy imagery in them that it's long passed the verge of being laughable. But the thing here is, we're laughing with them, not at them.
It's all very epic, and it'll please anyone who can't get enough power metal. And you gotta dig that narrative in "The Last Crystal Bearer" with the main character getting expelled by the elders from the council at The Arcane University, spoken scripts in nighttime fairytale voices and everything.
A lot of the time, though, TF aren't writing memorable songs rather than simply pressing the power metal button. But for the most part, what they do works, due to their technical proficiency and obvious love for the genre. The only example of the opposite being the chorus in "Skyknights of Aldaria", where a blastbeat and then a riff interferes too much with an otherwise fine melody.
But on the whole, we're good here. In fact, so much so that I'ma go ahead and up the rating by an extra 0.5 points. Just to give a bit more love to a such unfairly disliked genre.
Rating: 4.5 out of 6
Genre: Power metal
Release date: 20/1/2023
Label: Nuclear Blast
Producer: Philip Lindh, supposedly