Search - Heavenly :: Virus

A good offering, but any and all forward progression is hard

John. N | Big Run, PA USA | 11/16/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Of all the bands that have graced the European metal scene over the last few years, France's Heavenly has been one of the bands I have taken a particular personal interest in. While some people feel the band has yet to really stray from the true and tired conventions set forth by genre defining bands such as Helloween (a statement that does bear some truth - let's be honest here), I was definitely expecting the bands next release after 2003's Dust to Dust to really help the band rise above and beyond such labels. While the band manages to do this to an extent on Virus, it's obvious old conventions are extremely hard to break away from.



The album starts off in the right direction, for the most part, with the first three offerings: "The Dark Memories," "Spill Blood On Fire" and "Virus". "The Dark Memories" opens the album with its thrash-like metal opening and immediately pulls the listener in; the typical-yet-updated chorus also pulls it weight extremely well. While some of the songs musical transitions can seem rather awkward and jumpy at first (especially to first time listeners) eventually it seems less and less so with each listen. The energy of "The Dark Memories" carries over to the next track "Spill Blood On Fire," which more or less is the centerpiece of the album for a variety of important reasons. "Spill Blood On Fire" finds Sotto refraining from using complex song structure (a staple element in almost every Heavenly song) and opts for a more straightforward experience without the multiple and various tempo changes. The result is one of the best tunes the band has ever cranked out and gives them a viable airplay weapon; it is simply the most accessible song in the bands catalog at date.



As strong as the first two tracks are, "Virus" is where the music begins to make its backwards slide. What begins as a track with an infectious and intoxicating beat becomes rather standard when the initial rush energy is left behind during its progression. Many of the following tracks such as "The Fury and Power" and "Bravery In The Field" share the same problem, except they're pretty standard from the outset - the later has a chorus that makes it sound like a left over from the bands 2001 album Sign of the Winner. Considering this and tracks such as "Liberty" and "The Prince of the World", which narrowly escape the dreaded label of being "rehashed", indicates that band really hasn't progressed as much as the first few tracks would indicate. Don't get me wrong - these tracks are far from horrible (in fact "Prince of the World" is much better song than a single listen would indicate) but are hardly any kind of answer for a band that needs to grow and breathe.



The remaining two songs on the main album present the listener with guest vocalists Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica and Tanja of Lullacry. Kakko's participation on "Wasted Time" is a essentially a mixed bag - while the clichéd opening is hardly worth his talents the one verse he belts out later is simply amazing and is the closest thing anyone is going to see as far as serious Kakko action goes until the new Sonata debuts. Tanja's work on the duet "When The Rain Begins To Fall" is simply enchanting as she trades vocals back and fourth with Sotto in a beautifully constructed piece. Oddly enough, none of the band members are credited with writing this little slice of heaven - something that becomes quite obvious when considering its stark difference to the rest of the material (I'm almost convinced this album is worth owning for this track alone!) Lullacry fans should be more inclined to purchase this album for Tanja's performance than those of Kakko and Sonata.



The Korean and Japanese pressings of Virus contain two additional bonus tracks: "The Joker" and an alternate version of "Spill Blood On Fire" sung in Japanese. In all honesty neither of these tracks are really worth your time or money unless your native tongue happens to be Japanese. "The Joker" is essentially a demo track written and sung by the bands guitarist and is completely disposable and hearing Sotto sing "Spill Blood on Fire" in Japanese isn't as fun as one initially think it would be. The bottom line is most fans will be better off waiting for a domestic release in their own country than shelling out for the import. Whether or not the "Spill Blood On Fire" video will see daylight on those releases has yet to be seen - here's to hoping!



In closing, Virus itself is really a telltale example of a band taking a step forward and taking an equal step backwards. While the album is hardly the "Euro metal juggernaut" I had envisioned it to be in my mind (in fact my hopes where probably a bit TOO high), it is definitely one of the year's better releases - a year that has been rather dry as far as new Euro metal releases are concerned. Most will better off waiting for one of their country's record labels to pick this up (I, of course, was too impatient). Virus is definitely worth buying but not at an import price."