Olympus Mons - Medievil (2007)

Olympus Mons - Medievil (2007)

Olympos Mons are essentially what I would call a middle 3rd tier symphonic power metal band, mostly invoking images of a hybrid of mid-1990s Stratovarius and touches of epic outfits like Dark Moor and Freedom Call. Their songs rely pretty heavily on musical clichés first coined by the likes of Helloween and Gamma Ray, with perhaps more of a neo-classical tinge in several areas. They started a bit too late to claim any real sense of originality, but they do well within their highly derivative approach to the power metal medium.

Much like their debut LP “Conquistador”, “Medieval” has an even mix of exceptional power anthems and others which are adequate but not amazing. The two albums differ mostly in production, which is one of the areas where this release surpasses its predecessor, although it lags behind in a few others. Most of the material on here rely a bit more on the symphonic elements than the traditional metal instruments, giving it more of a Rhapsody edge, rather than the heavy Stratovarius and Dragonland tendencies of “Conquistador”.

The places where this album really shines are during the Freedom Call sounding speed tracks, most notably “Frozen”, “Kingdom of Winter” and the Japanese bonus track “Dreamer”. Surely enough, they are loaded with the same double kick beats that dominates almost all the post-Helloween acts, but they get the job done in the chorus and guitar solo sections, which are the most crucial elements of the genre. The guitar riffs are fairly plain, which is the ultimate result of approaching this genre with only one guitar player, but the vocal and keyboard atmosphere that results covers for it.

The other material on here is mostly good, although the choruses tend to meander a bit in certain songs. Although I enjoy “One Word” and the title track while listening to them, it is a struggle to remember what I’ve heard for the most part, particularly the choruses. Other songs like “The Emperor’s Return” and “Wolves” have sections that are really memorable, particularly the opening trumpet theme to the former, but lag a bit as a whole. The only other really powerful song on here aside from the first 3 mentioned beforehand is “Fire and Ice”, which succeeds at being the best power ballad I’ve heard from a power metal band in quite a while. Picture the best elements of Rhapsody’s “Symphony of Enchanted Lands” and Stratovarius’ approach to a piano ballad circa 1997 and you’ll get the idea.

This is a good release for fans of the Symphonic power metal format, particularly if you want a historically oriented alternative to the knights and dragons approach to many of the bands that influenced this one. Although not quite as powerful, as a whole this album compares heavily with The Storyteller’s “Tales of a Holy Quest”, but with a vocalist that sounds closer to Timo Koltipelto. This, along with Freedom Call’s “Dimensions”, ranks in the upper-middle range of 2007’s power metal albums. It’s only slightly inferior to its predecessor in the songwriting department, but definitely worth your time.

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Tracklist:
1.     One Word
2.     Frozen
3.     The Emperors Return
4.     The Price
5.     Wolves
6.     A Race Between Two Hearts
7.     Fire and Ice
8.     Medievil
9.     Kingdom of Winter
10.     Locked in Chains

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