KINGFISHER SKY

De Graaf left Within Temptation as he wanted to play music which was more challenging, and did so just as the band started to gain international success, and with his wife Judith they created a band which allows her classical training to shine as they move through styles such as crossover and symphonic with some folk tendencies and only rarely into area which could be thought of as heavy, which one may expect given the background. The title is interesting as it is taken originally from an old Cherokee legend, "There are two wolves, and they are always fighting. One is darkness and despair, the other light and hope. Which one wins? The one you feed." It has long been my desire for this to form the basis of my next tattoo, on my forearm, as it is a story I really relate to.

Unfortunately, for some reason the album misses the mark, as while there is no doubting the ability of all those involved it has been polished so much that it misses the mark and feels almost as if the band are playing it safe as opposed to pushing the envelope. It is not a bad album, but it just doesn't feel quite right, as if it has been sanitised. The guitars are good, but not rough enough, the drums often feel basic, the vocals don't contain enough emotion, and then it can get frustrating as there are times when it all comes together and really works which makes the listener feel they are wrong about the whole thing, and then it drifts again. I don't know much about the recording process, but I wonder if they had an external producer or if they did it themselves, as if that is the case then I could understand it. As it is, this is a nice album which hits loads of modern progressive styles but is not as essential as it might have been.

While this may appeal to those who want music with an amazing lead singer but less bombastic and in your face like Nightwish or Within Temptation may find this of interest, but to me it is just too sanitised with not enough passion or drive.

This makes me think of the movie Twilight: appealling to the youngsters, lots of 'oh-I'm-so-sad-and-don't - know-why' and 'creeepy-but-handsome-teenager-looks-like-a-vampire' feelings. Seen it, heard it, got it already!

What to say? No epics, not even a song clocking past 5 minutes (so radio friendly). The girl sounds like Within Temptation/Lacuna Coil/ Epica; so nothing, absolutely nothing new on the horizon. What grinds my gears the most is the fact that the record has a great production, and a lot of time in production knob twitching's been invested...in what? Another clone based on a clone. Man, so many bands with fresher ideas could've benefit all this time and money! But hey, kids want goths, give'em goths.

After hearing this style over and over again, I even wonder why more and more bands are heading towards this tangent since this as been the flavor of the month for the past what, 8 years? I guess everybody wants their piece of the cake.

If you like Lacuna Coil and Evanescence, this is one another amongst so many.

A big yawn for me.

I'm not sure whether to conclude that they have an identity crisis or just like mixing up power metal with sometimes dreamy music that lets Judith carry the day. And that is often within the same song. So it makes it difficult to say if you like Band "X" you will go for KS. The metal can be very heavy, but surely would not be enough for big time prog metal listeners. There are heavy doses of piano, acoustic guitar and atmospheric keyboards. They use these to try and create melodies when the metal is not engaged, to varying degrees of success. There are certainly more melodic bands making music today. All the music was written by Rijnveld and Ijar de Graaf, the aforementioned drummer, and he makes sure the drums are a large part of the sound without being too much. They even sometimes have a bit of a tribal feel to them. The songs are all in the 3 and a half to 5 minute range, so no grand musical journeys here. The production is pristine and the musicians are certainly no slouches.

This is a showcase for Rijnveld's lovely voice and if female vocals with a good dose of metal without being over the top are your cup of tea, then this might be the album for you. There may just be too much of a swing between metal and symphonic elements to please purists of either genre. But it is a well done album and there is talent here that may please some here on PA. I would encourage finding samples before trying. I have waffled between 3 and 4 stars for this one. It just does not click with me as much as many of my four star albums so have to go with three.

Kingfisher Sky make heavy progressive rock, of that there is little doubt, bringing together brooding majikal folk, heavy metal, ersatz Celtic and Bjork-like rhythm/voice mantra. But the band's strength is its simplified and concentrated songsmithing, melodic focus and emotional impact. Rijnveld's charm and womanly wiles are irresistible and we get something a bit like Fleetwood Mac's strong feminine front and quiet but sure male backbone. But the music is not as restrained and precious as Nicks-era Mac, dipping more often into the pools of Zeppelin, Tool, Heart, and even the little dramas of Tori Amos. Opener 'The Craving' rocks nicely and is a good starter, nothing special but then they're just getting started. It's the kind of song pumped through the speakers before a concert and makes you wonder who it is. The title cut similarly timbres but perhaps drops the ball with the pop stylings, still an impressive mix of rich harmonic tunework with sudden leaps into Toolish progmetal. But the next, 'Balance of Power', really does it. Rijenveld's lovely distant wail greets us for a night of moondancing, de Graaf's fluid drum phrases, and the band's solid wall of power-rock for an album highpoint, a song that could easily climb the charts if anyone knew about it. 'November' as well, a near-perfect example of the standard song format followed by the semi-Elizabethen folk delicacies of 'Big Fish', Plant/Page droning in 'Through My Eyes', the clean modern cybernetics on 'Seven Feet' and 'Persephone'. And the flawless 'Her White Dress' as it screams *Hit!* into the ears of an oblivious market and shows us the simplicity of one beautiful song. Anyone who secretly loves a good 70s-style tunesmith could do a lot worse than this superb outfit, and in that light, 'Hallway of Dreams' is highly recommended.