FANTASMA

This album is dedicated to Detlef Dohmen who was a dear friend of the band and also their sound engineer. He was tragically killed in a car accident in 1997. It's been three years since their last album "Venus" and they have chosen a more emotional and heavier path for this their fourth record. I am very impressed with this album and band. It has grown into an album that I really enjoy listening to for it's power and emotion. The vocals are very well done by Oliver Phillips, and new lead guitarist Ulli Hoever is in the spotlight much of the time. This really appears to be a concept album about a couple who have broken up. The lyrics are absolutely heartbreaking and brilliant. The best i've seen in some time.

"Men Of Rust" opens with piano and synths as it starts to build. Heavy drums and a full sound arrive with vocals right behind 2 minutes in. The vocals are quite passionate at times as is the guitar playing. I like the calm sections too. Scorching guitar 5 minutes in. Great start to this album. "Perfect Remedy" is mellow to begin with as fragile vocals come in. This is such an emotional song for me when he sings the chorus. I like when the heaviness comes in as he sings "People like us..." over and over. During the chorus he sings "Am I good for you, are you good for me. Are we each others poison or each other's only therapy." Later he sings "People like us always reach for the stars, people like us have a heart covered with scars." "Fine With Me' is a straight up Metal song. Heavy drums and guitar as he sings with passion. Uptempo with riffs galore. "A Day By The Sea" features reserved vocals and piano. It gets fuller a minute in. This contrast continues. Scorching guitar 3 minutes in and also a minute later. "Right Now..." is like most of the lyrics for these songs beyond anything i've read. So wise and so emotional. Some ripping guitar in this one as well as it gets really heavy as it blends into "...Til The End Of Times" as it continues to be heavy duty with killer guitars and pounding drums. Nice deep bass lines as well. "Fantasma-Theme" is less then a minute of piano melodies. "The Real Escape" opens with acoustic guitar and violin as fragile vocals join in. Some orchestration half way through. Some good guitar after 3 minutes. "Whatever It Takes" is like his battle cry in this story.

"Battle Of Words" is of course an instrumental. Piano opens the song beautifully before drums and a full sound arrive. Scorching guitar follows and goes on and on. Nice. "May You" is where he has accepted things and it's like he offers up this prayer "May you..." as he wishes her the best. This is incredibly emotional. He sings "May you have all that you have been dreaming of. And may your smile come from the heart and be no fake. May you find love. May someone give you all I could not give. And may he still love you when you are old and gray. So take good care of yourself. And I hope you know I really mean it when I say Of all those years we shared, I don't regret a day." Gulp. "Ghost-Intro" opens with haunting sounds before piano then tasteful guitar come in on this less then 2 minute intro track. "Ghosts" is almost like the moral of the story. Be committed to your partner and live freely, take risks in life, love one another holding nothing back. Instead he has chosen to be a ghost with an empty mind and heart of stone, existing but not really alive, he chose to live in chains. Beautiful guitar 4 minutes in. 5 minutes in we can hear someone (him) dying as the haunting sounds are back. He's breathing slowly fighting for air until he's gone. Figurative of course of this man who's thoughts we've been listening to through these songs. He's now the ghost, he burned out before they ever burned.

Masterpiece.