Album Review: Majestica - Above The Sky

This is a bit of an odd case. Majestica is a 'new' band that is a continuation of Reinxeed. These are the same guys playing the same type of music, but after being busy with other projects, they regrouped under a different name. I can't say I understand why you would put yourself back at the starting block for a new album, rather than use the name and stature you had already built, but the business of music is none of my business. I'm here to talk about the music on the record, not the name on it.

It's been quite a while since I reviewed a record that was so purely, traditionally power metal. Majestica is paying tribute to everything about the renaissance of power metal, which just so happened to be when I was getting into the genre. Contrary to what you might think, that does not give the album an edge in my mind. Nostalgia has only made that time feel even more formulaic than it did back then. Hearing some of the same tropes for the hundredth time isn't necessary.

The opening title track throws them all in. There are the faint notes of a harpsichord in the instrumental section, to go along with some symphonic backing, and Tommy Johansson delivers a vocal that goes from almost baritone to the rather painful sounding highest ends of his range. There are bits I'm glad to hear, like a guitar solo that plays an actual melody rather than shredding arpeggios, but at this point I don't know if you can write a traditional power metal song that doesn't feel stale. And those high vocals. Oh god, are they an unnecessary blight on what would have otherwise been a pretty good song, as well as a couple more along the way.

Why did power metal ever decide super high vocals were a good thing, anyway? Yes, it set the genre apart from more traditional heavy metal, but it gave it a reputation for being too light and fluffy for any 'serious' metal fan to enjoy. It's a bit of cartoonishness that wasn't necessary, sort of an inverse to the growling that defined death metal as 'cookie monster' music for so long. What's worse is that Tommy has a good voice when he stays in his natural range. His voice is a bit deeper, and if you remember a band called Keldian who made a big impact with their first (and only good) record, he sounds quite a bit like that.

Now we get down to the crux of the matter. This album is one that plays right into the blueprint of traditional power metal. Since the aim is to recreate that period of time once again, I can't fault them for sounding like a dozen other bands from the early 2000s, themselves included. If you want to hear more of that kind of music, Majestica is very good at it. Since they were a part of the scene, they know what to do. Myself, I don't particularly want to hear a resurrection of that resurrection of power metal. When you're trying to bring back an old sound, it's going to sound old, and that's what I get out of this record.

People who are still into power metal will disagree with me, and that's fine. Majestica is doing their nostalgia well, so good on you if that's what you're into. I'm not, at least right now, so my praise will be more tempered.