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Cydonia - Cydonia
Cydonia - Cydonia
Metal Blade - 2001
By Rodrigo
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Cydonia is the latest Italian band to hit the metal world. The musical style of Cydonia is very similar to Labÿrinth but more in vein to early Helloween and Edguy. The connection to Labÿrinth is present because Olaf Thörsen helped in the songwriting and producing departments. Matt Stancioiu who is the current Labÿrinth drummer also is involved in this album as Cydonia’s drummer. But this is not another Labÿrinth side project; Cydonia is vocalist’s Dan Keying band. Dan and Olaf have know each other for years (Olaf had offered Dan the vocalist spot for Labÿrinth after Fabio Lione left, as well as the vocal duties for Vision Divine) but Dan always wanted to do something different and the result is Cydonia.
Cydonia is a concept album dealing with Dan’s fascination with the red planet, Mars. The story actually moves along rather well and is well done but the important thing about this album is the music. This album features all the characteristics of a symphonic power metal album. It features extremely fast and melodic guitars, courtesy of Steve Sguario, and excellent keyboards by Lee Crow. Dan’s vocals are very impressive and he reminds me of a mix of Michael Kiske and Tobias Sammet. In the excellent song "Master of Stars" it is hard not to imagine that Michael Kiske is singing in the chorus. The same goes in the opening track "The King"; Dan totally sounds like Tobias. These two songs are actually two of my favorite from the album. "The King" is guitar driven and it is your typical speedy power metal anthem. Matt has a nice part where he performs a drum solo. "Masters of Stars" starts of with an awesome spacey keyboard intro before the rest of the band jumps in and the song heads off into speed metal heaven. Some other notable songs include "Confused Future" and "Legend in Time". The former features the heaviest guitars one will hear in this sort of album. It actually took me by surprise because it was totally unexpected but I like this song a lot. The great thing about "Legend in Time" is the chorus. Not only does it feature great vocal melodies by Dan but also the music courtesy of the guitars and keyboards is fantastic.
This album really does not feature anything new in this genre but Cydonia manages to play it good and it sounds like they had fun recording the album. There are some great songs in this album that should not be missed. If you are a fan of this sort of music then I definitely recommend this album.
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