THE FORBIDDEN CITY

Twinspirits , this italian prog metal band with their second album to date, release at Lion music last year - 2009 named The forbidden city. This album must be one of the deseppointed releases from 2009 from my collection. I was expecting something better, and instead I get an usual , almost boring power metal album with keybords added here ad there. If the first album was a very good one, showing a good debute with intristing ideas, this second offer is almost an mediocre album. The arrangements, the guitar solos, everything is good but damn usual, I heared this version hundred times before on hundred bands. A new member arrived on this album, again a non italian singer, I guess the main man of the band Liverani has a special atraction to forign vocalists, after all is his choice, this new voice of Goran Nystrom is ok, but too unpolished , and very predictable arrangements. I don't see him as the best vocalist from the band, I prefer the former one, who was more versatile and has a better range for Twinspirits music. Anyway if the voice is ok in places, some great parts here and there,are boring to death and only the instrumental passages save the album to be a total average one. Teh arrangements are ok, but to predictable and too usual if not unintristing verall. The sound is cristal clear, this is a good thing of course,, but doesn't save the album to became only one or two spining releases from my collectiuon from 2009. The best pieces, are the opening track, The Forbidden City , nearly 11 min, from it sox are totaly unintristing, but the first 3 min of the piece is very good, the instrumental one BTR, absolutly the best piece from here, showing that they still mean bussines in this prog metal field, not enough for me from the whole album, but very strong instrumental arrangements, and I think that all, the rest are from ok to average, not necesarly bad but with lack of choerence in song writting and with no originaluty at all, not even in keybords section and guitr where Liverani always shines on his every project involved, but not here. So, overall I will give 2.5 rounded to 3, I rounded up becaus e I like the band, and the musicians of Twinspirit, each one has great skills but this this time they didn't used properly like on their first album. A good album overall in the end, 3 stars but with indulgence. Sad but if the next album will sound like this Forbidden city , I tell you I will forget about this band for good, and I'm not saying only to fill the box, I'm damn irritaited by this forgetable album by one of the best bands from young generation in prog metal.