DARK ILLUSION

Dark Illusion are yet another band off the seemingly endless conveyor belt of Swedish Power Metal bands. However, in this case, there is significant age to this group, so accusations of jumping on the band wagon would be wide of the mark. They were actually formed back in the glory days of metal, 1982. Unfortunately, they struggled to make an impact and, after knocking out a few demos and gigging close to their Stockholm base, called it a day in 1985. The passion and drive for making music didn't quite die however and the core of the band, guitarists Tomas Hultqvist and Niklas Tengblad, reunited in 2003 and began working on new material. The present line up, and the one that has recorded 'Where the Eagles Fly' is completed by vocalist Thomas Vikstrom, bassist Pontus Egberg and Jonas Ostman on drums. The album opens with 'My Heart Cries Out For You' and immediately the band set their stall out, giving us an indication of what to expect. This is an up tempo track, with a strong vocal performance and plenty of melody. The second track, 'Dark Journey', continues in the same vein although the tempo is perhaps even faster. It's a good solid effort but the gang style backing vocals don't quite work. 'Land of Street Survivor' is next up and, again, is in a similar style with some Rob Halford style vocals to draw matters to a conclusion. 'Pay the Price' follows and displays some very Helloween like backing vocals. 'Destiny's Call' is next and is fairly run of the mill while its successor, 'Evil Masquerade' has a Maidenesque intro while the main body of the song has a plodding, Sabbathy feel to it. It's a good track and a highlight of this release. 'Running Out of Time' has a really fast intro and the overall feel to the cut is of Helloween in their Kai Hansen era incarnation. 'Spellbound', 'Only the Strong Will Survive' and 'Epic' complete the tracklisting and all are competently performed. Overall, despite the song titles sounding like they are the product of a 'Heavy Metal song title random word generator' and a certain clichéd feel to some of the lyrics, I enjoyed listening to this release. There's not much here that makes Dark Illusion stand out from the multitude of bands playing this brand of metal but, nonetheless, it's well played and heavy with just the right amount of melody. The production is good and gives the tracks plenty of power and I'm sure most discerning rock or metal fans would find something here to approve of.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

The Laser's Edge

Album

WHERE THE EAGLES FLY

Review by Dave Uphill

RUNNING TIME:

44:46

RELEASE DATE:

11th Jan 2010

TRACK LISTING

1) My Heart Cries Out For You
2) Dark Journey
3) Land of Street Saviour
4) Pay The Price
5) Destiny's Call
6) Evil Masquerade
7) Running Out Of Time
8) Spellbound
9) Only The Strong Will Survive
10) Epic

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Sweden

"There's not much here that makes Dark Illusion stand out from the multitude of bands playing this brand of metal but, nonetheless, it's well played and heavy with just the right amount of melody."