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[ More Music Reviews ]

Crystal Viper: Tales Of Fire And Ice

Heavy Metal

3.5/5.0

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AFM Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 20.11.2019 | Released: 22.11.2019

After dropping the short EP, At The Edge Of Time, last summer, Krakow's Crystal Viper returns with their seventh studio album, Tales Of Fire And Ice. Perhaps a subtle nod to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice And Fire epic fantasy tale? Not so much.

Crystal Viper

Once more you can expect Crystal Viper's traditional melodic heavy metal, with vocalist Marta Gabriel's voice and guitar at the forefront. But you might also find that the band will also add in some power metal speed and hard rock groove across many arrangements. You'll certainly hear this musical mixture within Still Alive, Neverending Fire, and Crystal Sphere. With Under Ice, Crystal Viper brews up a nice mix of tempos, steady to fast, over a deliberate rock groove. Alternatively, One Question roars from the gate with rabid drumming and thick riffs for speed metal, and it never slows down. Crystal Viper drops an anthemic metal ballad with Tears Of Arizona, featuring Gabriel's voice over drums, synths, lighter guitar, and a lingering piano line, before rising to dense riffs and a guitar solo. Like most other Crystal Viper long players, the album includes a cover song as a CD bonus track. This time it's Dokken's Dream Warriors, and their interpretation closely follows the original. Nothing new there. In summary, with Tales Of Fire And Ice, Crystal Viper strays little from the genre path, offering another entertaining album of traditional melodic heavy metal. Recommended.

Redline: Gods & Monsters

Heavy Metal Rock

4.5/5.0

Really? Has it been seven years since we heard from Birmingham's Redline? That's way too long to have a new album from this talented traditional heavy ... [ Read More ]

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

With Tales Of Fire And Ice, Crystal Viper strays little from the genre path, offering another entertaining album of traditional melodic heavy metal. Recommended.

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By now it's old news. Everybody in the prog universe knows: Dream Theater got the band back together. Drummer and founding member Mike Portnoy returned to his Dream Theater family to celebrate their 40th ... [ Read More ]