Formed in Britain late 2006, Damnation Angels is fronted by the brilliant vocalist PelleK (pronounced Pella-Kay). What strikes me most about this band is the extremely well rounded compositions they have. With all the familiar sounds that I love (symphonic elements like Nightwish, hugely powerful vocals like Circus Maximus, grinding guitar melodies like Symphony X, and ripping guitar solos like Dream Theater), they still manage to create a sound uniquely their own.
I Hope in particular has a nice balance between symphonic, piano and guitar melodies. In fact, most of their music falls in that comfortable area of symphonic rock and metal, grazing each genre – some songs fantastically heavy, other’s omitting the recognizable double bass kicks and frantic rhythm section of metal, allowing the vocal and guitar melodies to shine.
I Hope starts symphonically, with the initial melody of the first (and subsequent) verse led by the piano, before pounding out a grand power metal guitar riff from the fingers of Will Graney. Drumming by John Graney has some nice little fills all over the place to briefly capture the listener’s attention, but not steal too much of it. PelleK has an amazing voice and range, that words can do no justice. You must listen to truly appreciate. It’s reminiscent of a pre-vocal injury James LaBrie. Graney (the ‘guitar’ Graney) gives a brief but nice solo, leading in to the outro. All in all, a very high quality 6 minute track that just leaves me wanting more of Damnation Angels.
Their 5-track EP – Shadow Symphony is available on Spotify, with their 2012 full length album Bringer of Light containing a few of the same tracks. If you want a nice 10 minute melodic-metal track, head over to their MySpace page for a listen to Pride (The Warrior’s Way) … or just click the youtube video below! The EP is no longer being pressed, so get a listen while you can, or buy what’s left of their inventory for a couple of euro’s – details on their Facebook page.
[spotify:track:1P4ZkHh2lVQlkoVx3NeMXn]
[youtube gNerE4k4htM]
[like]
[tweets]
No Comments