ANGELS OF THE NIGHT

This is the third album by Serpentyne, who started off as a folk-rock group of sorts, but has moved far more into metal over the years. They have toured with Tarja, and there is no doubt that early Nightwish in particular has had an impact on the current sound of the band. Mind you, to be honest when I played this the first time, I picked up more on one of Nightwish's own influences, Legend. However, this does not contain the same hugely progressive overtones of Legend, nor the bombast of Nightwish, so are something in-between. The band was formed by singer Maggie-Beth Sand, and I must confess I am not a fan of her vocals. She can hit the high notes, but there is the feeling the voice is quite thin and frail, without power. This particularly comes to light on the few songs where bassist Nigel Middleton takes the lead, as this is quite different in approach and attack.

Musically the band move between different styles, from folk metal and symphonic metal into prog metal, and they obviously appeal to a wide variety of fans as they have supported Stratovarius on tour as well as Soulfly, two very different bands indeed. It must just be me then, but although I enjoy the use of hurdy gurdy and violin in what they are doing, as well as the keyboard runs, for me this album is quite basic with little in the way to redeem it. Overall it is fairly interesting, but given the choice between this, or the likes of Legend, Nightwish or Eluveitie, there really is no contest.