vote
6.5
- Band:
TIMELESS FAIRYTALE - Duration: 00:47:01
- Available from: 09/13/2024
- Label:
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Vici Solum Productions
Streaming not yet available
Timeless Fairytale are, it must be said, a little-known metal band formed in 2024 thanks to the communion of ideas between the Swedish singer Henrik Brockmann and the Italian guitarist Luca Sellitto who, in addition to admirably covering the role of lead guitar, also takes care of all the keyboard parts proposed in the debut album entitled “A Story To Tell”.
The style proposed by the Italian-Swedish band is mainly based on a neoclassical power metal and strongly influenced by the six-string virtuosos of the eighties such as Yngwie Malmsteen or Vinnie Moore, on which fits a voice that takes us back to the first albums of the Teutonic Helloween or to the sounds proposed by supergroups like Avantasia.
The album – which certainly doesn't bring a breath of fresh air to a static panorama like that of power – opens with an instrumental intro (“Entering The Fairytale”), which sounds more like a disjointed improvisation in which the guitar plays a central role and whose main theme is reprised in the outro of the album (“Farewell Fairytale”) to close the parenthesis. The two songs are listenable, but perhaps they would have deserved a greater push in terms of structure and harmonic complexity, especially considering the role of 'alpha' and 'omega' that cover the inside of the work.
The remaining nine tracks on the full-length do not stray from the style previously described, although they do offer sporadic gems such as “Master Of Illusion”, a sort of blues-tinged power metal that unfolds on a pleasant and unexpected shuffle, giving the listener a nice interlude also thanks to the singer Brockmann's raspy voice that perfectly suits the style of the piece.
Also worthy of note is the title track, a classic power rock ballad that starts with a melancholic piano riff and evolves quite solidly – especially thanks to the vocal contribution – to explode into a beautiful guitar solo that is very sung and far from the shred style that guitarist Sellitto has accustomed us to throughout the album; a good piece, definitely worth keeping in mind for a future single.
“A Story To Tell” is a product that struggles to emerge from the chaos of realities that propose a style that, after almost four decades, seems to have really exhausted its propulsive charge. Considering the good technical skills of the band and the overall good level of production, it would be definitely interesting to see the quartet try their hand at more personal sounds and less inspired by greats of the past.
Another potential improvement we feel we should highlight concerns the guitar and keyboard parts which, although played very well, are quite similar to each other, being composed by the same musician; it would be interesting – and, in the opinion of the writer, beneficial – to differentiate the roles in order to draw from a set of different inspirations.
Having reached the end of the first album by Timeless Fairytale we can only promote the album with full marks, hoping that the Italian-Swedish band will show their claws and not remain just 'one among many'.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM