In 2013, a young German band by the unassuming name of Evertale took the power metal world by storm with an independently-released firestorm of a fantasy power metal debut in Of Dragons And Elves. The band was hurriedly signed to NoiseArt Records and the album re-released, much to the relief of international fans. It’s been nearly a four-year wait, but a follow-up in the German’s signature power metal style is finally here. The singles have been respectable, if not mind-blowing; the cover artwork solid; the theme appropriately within the realm of epic, easily-digestible fantasy and science fiction; and by all appearances, it seemed as if the band was on track for minimal changes to its sound for The Great Brotherwar. I was expecting this album to hit like a truck upon first reception, but unfortunately, some of the band’s magic seems to have worn off.
Choruses are a crucial characteristic of power metal, and Evertale absolutely perfect the art. The consistently layered voices, vocal patterns that flow over each other, and melodies which ooze triumph make every refrain utterly irresistible. Mainman Matthias Graf is almost constantly multi-tracked, turning his already phenomenal pipes into a wall of pure power. The chorus to “The Journey To Iskendria” is particularly emotive and makes the most of its velocity; the singles “Empire Rising” and “We Are The Hammer” channel the catchiest material on the record whilst still making a glorious impact; the final chorus to the title-track is a truly theatrical climax (rivalling “The Final Page” in every way); and “For The King And The Crown” is a mighty anthem that is bound to go down a storm in a live setting. By the way, you can buy
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Catching monsters works almost exactly the same way it does in Pokémon. You’ll run around thick grass, waiting to start an encounter. A turn-based battle will ensue and, as soon as you’ve worn down the monster enough, you can try to catch it.Succeed and you can add the new monster to your party immediately. You can then battle alongside the monster to level it up, eventually evolving it when it becomes powerful enough.
What is immediately noticeable is the vocals of Matthias Graf, who has more similarities with Ronnie James Dio and Nils Patrik Johansson (Astral Doors / Wuthering Heights), than with the many falsetto singers we encounter in this genre. This means that the music seems to have a good dose of more balls than a lot of genealogies, because the vocal lines are much more powerful and lower than those of the many Kiske clones in the genre. The balance, however, is perfect, because Graf does have a certain form of theatricality in his voice that keeps him out of Grave Digger terrain and the music still offers a certain form of majesty. Instrumentally, this album mainly contains power / speed metal from the intermediate phase of Blind Guardian, from raw to melodic. Think of Tales From The Twilight World and Somewhere Far Beyond, but with a slightly more modern production and a slightly greater emphasis on bombast.
By most standards, The Great Brotherwar is a meaty slab of quality metal, if a certain, sizeable step back from the band’s bold beginnings. For those unfamiliar with the band, lines can be drawn to many aggressive, guitar-driven German acts like those mentioned above, as well as Solar Fragment and maybe even Paragon. Anyone not familiar with the band who enjoys what they hear here should most certainly continue to look back to the debut.
