SHADOWS AND FLAMES

1. The Dragonborn Comes (Dovahkiin) to set the tone, growl from OPETH or early EPICA, a symphonic tune from the Far East, it's fresh, it looks at familiar territories; so nothing new but an already captivating tune 2. A Haunting Lullaby for the atmospheric cinematic interlude, proven sweetness 3. Blood and Wine with the double or triple pedal, in short it rocks hard; the basis of 1001 nights, extreme prog metal with progressive drifts on the climate, a bit of a rehash of the 90s but very well done 4. The Shadow second prog interlude like MERCYFUL FATE, dark, evil, invasive musical spirit, enjoyable 5. Sands of Time ... flute from over there, the tambourine that stirs the snake, yes; a long symphonic crescendo with its heavy riff that takes hold of the body, a keyboard solo by Omar that causes confusion, yes we can be musical in prog metal; the flight of Arab violins delivers the final blow: it's good. The break at 7 minutes returns to the initial climate, oriental latency, prog blood before the growl that must be tamed 6. Queen of the Dark with the queen in the person of guest Annie Hurdy GURDY playing among others with ELUVEITIE; his solo thrown after the growl brings sensuality, sensitivity and emotionality, in short a magnificent rhythmic ballad that makes you regress into the depths of the genre

7. Babylon (بَابِل) with the Babylonian intermission, on a tune of MYRATH, how small the world is sometimes 8. Dying Light returns to the fundamentals, an Egyptian progressive metal with a folk tendency with these melting sounds of 1002 nights, yes in metal time liquefies and gives that little extra; the break with flute and phrasing calms the ardor and allows to appreciate even more the melting solo of Mahmoud, in short another long title around 10mn, an instrumental space 'exciting' to the OPETH of yesteryear 9. Lustful Temptation continues and amplifies the dark side of the sound of the group, the voice screams, violent, the pads come out of the speakers, aggressive, the vocal duo sung-growl disconcerts but the oriental folk synths keep the melodic framework; piano with a refreshing break, symphonic flight of synths, crystalline guitar arpeggio then slow final drift with a last guitar solo that takes you to the guts, simple and melancholic at the same time, a delightful musical oxymoron 10. Another World for the last piano and violin interlude, between oriental, bucolic measure, castrato voice, we get closer to Olympus 11. Rise of the Fallen follows, always the same metal atmosphere, with the bonus of a surprisingly fresh synth solo, as if we finally arrived at an oasis after several hours of walking in the middle of the desert 12. The Flame for a folk instrumental space to hypnotize the listener who is not yet subjugated 13. Solitude with the marshmallow melodic piece, to settle down gently after more than 70 minutes of extremely innovative progressive delirium. The length can explain the redundant side of certain titles, to see to cut the listening. (3.5)