NorthTale (SWEDEN)
Posted: 22 Dec 2024, 15:14
NorthTale - Welcome To Paradise (2019)
Year : 2019
Style : Melodic Power Metal
Country : Sweden
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 117 mb
Bio:
NORTHTALE was born out of the desire of three world class musicians to work with each other in creating a new Power Metal band, blending melodic, anthemic choruses with fast paced rhythms and technically challenging, often harmonized solos.In the words of guitarist Bill Hudson, “We want to bring back the amazing golden years of Power Metal. Like in the late 90s, when STRATOVARIUS, HELLOWEEN, HAMMERFALL and all those bands were at their peak! Those bands, alongside with IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST have been inspiring me to write music my whole life".Hudson met vocalist Christian Eriksson at a summer festival in Sweden, where both were performing with their former groups, UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER and TWILIGHT FORCE, respectively. Both musicians seemed to share the same ideas, and Hudson invited Eriksson to sing on what at the time was supposed to be his solo album.“We were both in touch with Patrick Johansson about starting a new band”, says Eriksson, about the former YNGWIE MALMSTEEN drummer. “It only made sense that him, Bill and myself did something together. That’s basically how it all started”.for the bass, Eriksson brought in his former class mate at Hollywood’s Musicians Institute, Mikael Planefeldt, who has been working in Sweden with STREAMLINE.Jimmy Pitts met Bill Hudson while both musicians worked with Bill's TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA bandmate VITALIJ KUPRIJ (ARTENSION, RING OF FIRE). Pitts seemed like the obvious choice and perfect fit to complete the band’s line up.The band’s debut album, “Welcome To Paradise” was recorded and produced by the band and mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren at Black Lounge Studios in Grangärde, Sweden.The album is set to be released in the summer of 2019 via Nuclear Blast Records
Album:
Born out of a love of blending joyous melodies with anthemic choruses, and a burning desire to form a fresh Power Metal band, guitarist Bill Hudson (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I Am Morbid, ex-U.D.O/Dirkschneider), vocalist Christian Eriksson (ex-Twilight Force), and drummer Patrick Johansson (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) aligned in 2017 to become the core members of Northtale. The addition of keyboardist Jimmy Pitts and bassist Mikael Planefeldt soon completed their line up and, with that, a debut album was born: ‘Welcome To Paradise,’ heralding in Northtale’s own musical paradise. Yet if ‘Welcome To Paradise’ covers a lot of familiar bases, you could be forgiven for expecting paradise to have been a lot more exciting.Take the albums opener and title track, “Welcome To Paradise,” which induces a playful spark with its galloping rhythms and duel soloing. Yet as its inceptive moments progress, what transpires is not so much a great Power Metal opening number, but something more like a slackened Dragonforce warm-up. If you are new to this beloved sub-genre and this means nothing to you, start with Rainbow, a journey to Hammerfall as well as our other Hall of Fame elites, and work your way forward. All will soon become clear. Yet if the opener doesn’t tickle your fancy, the slightly edgier “Follow Me” might just. Each guitar, bass, and keys note, every drum hit and vocal soar, are executed with passionate rigor. Just enough that you may find yourself following Eriksson in a singalong. But only just.Yet there are moments to remember. No amount of “hashtags”, “sex appeal”, tenured “duck faces” or “vegan Happy-Meals” can deter Power Metal’s latest tangential child as Northtale take on pop and celebrity culture with their abnormally addictive “Everyone’s A Star.” Musically, this composition lays down a much more groove-based foundation, while lyrically it would come as little surprise if the band revealed they had jotted down buzzwords during a casual Instagram scroll and worked them into some delightfully catchy phrasing. Upon its first spin, “Everyone’s A Star” comes across as daft, naff and unapologetically corny, and not in the lovable, goofy Weird Al Yankovic kind of way. However, what this unassuming gem does is blossom from its initially negligible handshake into something you cannot help but crave, over and over. A work of brilliant genius or simply just a happy accident? We may never know. Either way, it works like a charm.Where our Power Metal torch-bearers fall short is in failing to show any real innovation in taking the sub-genre forward. With hints of Scorpions, echoes of Iron Maiden, a sliver of Trivium’s ‘The Crusade’ and even a touch of keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) to name but a small handful; these trademark traits are already out there and have been for quite some time. All of which makes ‘Welcome To Paradise’ a Power Metal petri dish of recalled history and its heavy hitters, which is the very reason it is not the Power Metal powerhouse it should have been.Northtale are, without question, talented musicians with an evident love for what they do. Determined to conquer your sound system’s and the stages of the world, and take Power Metal to those memorable heights; on the evidence of ‘Welcome To Paradise’ these gentlemen still have a long way to go. At the heart of Metal’s most merry sub-genre is a desire to infect audiences with simple, cheerful melodies, married with fast-paced, technical riffing and stadium erupting battle chants. ‘Welcome To Paradise’ does a respectable job at giving the listener just that. Yet given its quintet of stellar musicians; it should have delivered more. An entire album’s worth of standard Power Metal tracks leaves these recognized world-class talents sounding heavily diluted and disappointingly conventional. Here’s hoping for greater things next time.
Line Up:
Christian Eriksson : Vocals
Bill Hudson : Guitars
Mikael Planefeldt : Bass
Patrick Johansson : Drums
Jimmy Pitts : Keyboards
Tracklist:
01. Welcome to Paradise
02. Higher
03. Follow Me
04. The Rhythm of Life
05. Time to Rise
06. Way of the Light
07. Shape Your Reality
08. Everyone's a Star
09. Siren's Fall
10. Bring Down the Mountain
11. Playing with Fire
12. If Angels Are Real
13. Even When
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Year : 2019
Style : Melodic Power Metal
Country : Sweden
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 117 mb
Bio:
NORTHTALE was born out of the desire of three world class musicians to work with each other in creating a new Power Metal band, blending melodic, anthemic choruses with fast paced rhythms and technically challenging, often harmonized solos.In the words of guitarist Bill Hudson, “We want to bring back the amazing golden years of Power Metal. Like in the late 90s, when STRATOVARIUS, HELLOWEEN, HAMMERFALL and all those bands were at their peak! Those bands, alongside with IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST have been inspiring me to write music my whole life".Hudson met vocalist Christian Eriksson at a summer festival in Sweden, where both were performing with their former groups, UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER and TWILIGHT FORCE, respectively. Both musicians seemed to share the same ideas, and Hudson invited Eriksson to sing on what at the time was supposed to be his solo album.“We were both in touch with Patrick Johansson about starting a new band”, says Eriksson, about the former YNGWIE MALMSTEEN drummer. “It only made sense that him, Bill and myself did something together. That’s basically how it all started”.for the bass, Eriksson brought in his former class mate at Hollywood’s Musicians Institute, Mikael Planefeldt, who has been working in Sweden with STREAMLINE.Jimmy Pitts met Bill Hudson while both musicians worked with Bill's TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA bandmate VITALIJ KUPRIJ (ARTENSION, RING OF FIRE). Pitts seemed like the obvious choice and perfect fit to complete the band’s line up.The band’s debut album, “Welcome To Paradise” was recorded and produced by the band and mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren at Black Lounge Studios in Grangärde, Sweden.The album is set to be released in the summer of 2019 via Nuclear Blast Records
Album:
Born out of a love of blending joyous melodies with anthemic choruses, and a burning desire to form a fresh Power Metal band, guitarist Bill Hudson (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I Am Morbid, ex-U.D.O/Dirkschneider), vocalist Christian Eriksson (ex-Twilight Force), and drummer Patrick Johansson (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) aligned in 2017 to become the core members of Northtale. The addition of keyboardist Jimmy Pitts and bassist Mikael Planefeldt soon completed their line up and, with that, a debut album was born: ‘Welcome To Paradise,’ heralding in Northtale’s own musical paradise. Yet if ‘Welcome To Paradise’ covers a lot of familiar bases, you could be forgiven for expecting paradise to have been a lot more exciting.Take the albums opener and title track, “Welcome To Paradise,” which induces a playful spark with its galloping rhythms and duel soloing. Yet as its inceptive moments progress, what transpires is not so much a great Power Metal opening number, but something more like a slackened Dragonforce warm-up. If you are new to this beloved sub-genre and this means nothing to you, start with Rainbow, a journey to Hammerfall as well as our other Hall of Fame elites, and work your way forward. All will soon become clear. Yet if the opener doesn’t tickle your fancy, the slightly edgier “Follow Me” might just. Each guitar, bass, and keys note, every drum hit and vocal soar, are executed with passionate rigor. Just enough that you may find yourself following Eriksson in a singalong. But only just.Yet there are moments to remember. No amount of “hashtags”, “sex appeal”, tenured “duck faces” or “vegan Happy-Meals” can deter Power Metal’s latest tangential child as Northtale take on pop and celebrity culture with their abnormally addictive “Everyone’s A Star.” Musically, this composition lays down a much more groove-based foundation, while lyrically it would come as little surprise if the band revealed they had jotted down buzzwords during a casual Instagram scroll and worked them into some delightfully catchy phrasing. Upon its first spin, “Everyone’s A Star” comes across as daft, naff and unapologetically corny, and not in the lovable, goofy Weird Al Yankovic kind of way. However, what this unassuming gem does is blossom from its initially negligible handshake into something you cannot help but crave, over and over. A work of brilliant genius or simply just a happy accident? We may never know. Either way, it works like a charm.Where our Power Metal torch-bearers fall short is in failing to show any real innovation in taking the sub-genre forward. With hints of Scorpions, echoes of Iron Maiden, a sliver of Trivium’s ‘The Crusade’ and even a touch of keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) to name but a small handful; these trademark traits are already out there and have been for quite some time. All of which makes ‘Welcome To Paradise’ a Power Metal petri dish of recalled history and its heavy hitters, which is the very reason it is not the Power Metal powerhouse it should have been.Northtale are, without question, talented musicians with an evident love for what they do. Determined to conquer your sound system’s and the stages of the world, and take Power Metal to those memorable heights; on the evidence of ‘Welcome To Paradise’ these gentlemen still have a long way to go. At the heart of Metal’s most merry sub-genre is a desire to infect audiences with simple, cheerful melodies, married with fast-paced, technical riffing and stadium erupting battle chants. ‘Welcome To Paradise’ does a respectable job at giving the listener just that. Yet given its quintet of stellar musicians; it should have delivered more. An entire album’s worth of standard Power Metal tracks leaves these recognized world-class talents sounding heavily diluted and disappointingly conventional. Here’s hoping for greater things next time.
Line Up:
Christian Eriksson : Vocals
Bill Hudson : Guitars
Mikael Planefeldt : Bass
Patrick Johansson : Drums
Jimmy Pitts : Keyboards
Tracklist:
01. Welcome to Paradise
02. Higher
03. Follow Me
04. The Rhythm of Life
05. Time to Rise
06. Way of the Light
07. Shape Your Reality
08. Everyone's a Star
09. Siren's Fall
10. Bring Down the Mountain
11. Playing with Fire
12. If Angels Are Real
13. Even When
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
