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Wind Rose: Stonehymn
Wind Rose - Stonehymn CD Album Review

Wind Rose: Stonehymn

Melodic/Heavy/Power Metal
4.0/5.0

While it's happened often in ten years of writing reviews, I was surprised to see that I have reviewed every album that Italy's Wind Rose has created. They return after two years with Stonehymn, their third album and now signed to Sweden's Inner Wound Recordings.

Wind Rose Band Photo

Wind Rose

Now with a simple look at the band photo, you may be able to deduce the Wind Rose heavy metal genre and what their lyrical themes might be. Additionally, you may wonder if the band should not be from Italy, but from Scandinavia, perhaps fresh of the set of Game Of Thrones or The Vikings. Essentially, Wind Rose plays epic melodic power metal with lyrical themes from war and conquest, fantasy and history, and so on.

The epic power metal description simply comes from the band's use of large and brisk riffage, gang, nearly choral-like, vocal arrangements, and a generous symphonic synth layer. So, there's nothing new under the sun, you say. Perhaps. Wind Rose has ripped a page from Blind Guardian's (and others) textbook of power metal. But with Stonehymn, Wind Rose has developed some new embellishments to their tunes. They added ethnic and folk instrumentation such as pipes and lutes, acoustic guitar, and something that sounds a lot like a harpsichord. Again, this is nothing new or novel, bands such as Turisas and Korpiklaani do similar things. But it is a positive progression for the band, proving they don't wish to rest on past laurels, but pursue new and larger ideas for their music. Perhaps that's the best selling point to this album: Wind Rose has bumped up the grandiose and bombastic "epicness" of their epic melodic power metal with these new nuances. If you're a fan of Wind Rose, you will enjoy Stonehymn and the band's current direction.



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The Bottom Line

With Stonehymn, Wind Rose has bumped up the grandiose and bombastic "epicness" of their epic melodic power metal by adding ethnic and folk musical nuances. If you're a fan of Wind Rose, you will enjoy Stonehymn and the band's current direction.

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