Twilight Force - Dawn of the Dragonstar (2019)^{Release ID: 11893}

Saviors From The Twilight Kingdoms

2019 has been a diverse and exciting landscape for the usually derivative genre of Power Metal, with releases from Ancient Bards, Beast in Black, Avantasia, Týr, Iron Savior, Steel Prophet, and many others putting their best foot forward. In terms of more classic Power Metal, though, I was certain that nothing would top Gloryhammer's Legends From Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex in terms of bombastic and fun absurdity. Especially since Rhapsody of Fire's newest installment The Eighth Mountain was extremely disappointing, I was ready to leave the neoclassical fantasy Power Metal behind this year and submit to the sci-fi overlords. Then, from the clouds, swoops a mighty dragon, signalling the entrance of the Twilight Force to lead me back to the fantastical lands of old filled with mythical beasts, kings and queens, and completely redundant quests to find yet another sacred weapon. Dawn of the Dragonstar throws down the Power Metal gauntlet and dares any other band to challenge their craft.

It's almost unfair how good Twilight Force are at their genre, combining shredding neoclassical guitar wankery with gorgeous orchestral arrangements that don't let up for a second on any track. Dawn of the Dragonstar is energetic, bold, and pretentiously accepting of the absurdity that is Power Metal. It helps that Twilight Force is made up of fantasy characters that are created by the band members in the world of The Twilight Kingdoms with names like Blackwald, Aerendir, and De'Azsh. I'm of the opinion that Power Metal is a go big or go home genre, and Twilight Force absolutely goes big, with each band member cosplaying their character complete with costumes on stage for live performances. By embracing the ridiculousness, they set themselves up perfectly to just go wild with whatever fantastical tropes they want accompanied by their massive orchestration.  

The original vocalist who was responsible for the shrieking high notes on Twilight Force's first two albums sadly didn't make it to Dawn of the Dragonstar, which may be concerning for longtime fans since he gave the band a very original sound thanks to his upper register. It was a somewhat necessary casualty though, as his replacement is none other than Alessandro Conti, under the alias of Allyon, who was the vocalist for Luca Turilli's Rhapsody. After adding another piece of red string to my cork board tracking all the Power Metal bands that somehow trace back to Rhapsody, it's safe to say that this change was controversial, even for a newer fan like myself. The previous vocalist, Christian "Chrileon" Eriksson, had a unique, exciting, but somewhat grating style that helped Tales of Ancient Prophecies reach a diamond-in-the-rough status. As Twilight Force's scope of production widened and they became more bombastic on Heroes of Mighty Magic, his effectiveness began to wane as he was drowned out by the rest of the orchestration. Conti's voice is overall more experienced, powerful, and is a welcome change although it's less original overall as he's been in many other Power Metal projects. He even has the pipes to hit some impressive and staple high notes without going into Eriksson's shrieking dog whistle territory.

The instrumentation and composition of the orchestra is masterful throughout the album with a few amusing bits thrown in the mix, like the banjo and violin section in "Thundersword". It has a massive and adventurous feel without sounding too blown out and busy, with interesting melodies around every turn for your ear to latch onto. Every track is energetic, engaging, and somehow able to push the pace for its entire run-time, even through the twelve and a half minute Asian-inspired "Blade Of Immortal Steel". These slight shifts in style that each track has keeps the album twisting and turning, as if travelling through The Twilight Kingdoms. The climaxes and solos are insanely fun as well, which is exceedingly difficult to pull off since bands like Rhapsody have been writing these same sort of solos for decades at this point. They just have so much life and energy put into them that it all feels genuinely powerful rather than pretentiously overblown.

Dawn of the Dragonstar has this energy that is infectious and breathes life into the neoclassical and purely fantasy style of Power Metal. It's the same formula as many other bands, but it is written and performed with such an awesome amount of musical talent that it's difficult not to get engrossed in this world they've created. Take note upcoming fantasy Power Metal bands, because if you're going to go big, go Twilight Force amounts of big.