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Avian

Ashes And Madness

Written by: PP on 23/02/2009 12:30:13

If I were to summarize the story of Avian so far, it'd go something like this: Guitarist Yan Leviathan went to a metal festival with Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Edguy, and a bunch of other bands, realized he wanted to be on stage as well, and wrote a bunch of demos, and through a number of lucky connections got in touch with the ex-Megadeth, current F5 bassist David Ellefson, demoed some songs and got a boring Layne Staley-soundalike to sing on top of it all. They recorded and released a debut full length in obscurity, and are now gearing up to release "Ashes And Madness", the band's next chapter in the book of cliché power metal.

Starting from the epic soundscapes to the clean vocal vibrato moments and the tired solos, everything about Avian screams generic power metal so loud that even people outside Germany should hear it this time. I cannot understand why stuff like this is released, it sounds like a carbon copy of every other band in the genre, while still falling waaaaaaaaay too far from the appeal of bands like the aforementioned Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, and why not also Helloween. Most of the time, which is also the case on "Ashes And Madness", the genericness of power metal bands is caused by their lack of an ability to write memorable songs. There may be cool riffs scattered, perhaps even a killer solo on a song or two, but as a whole, the songs are so average that it hurts. It speaks volumes when I cannot remember a single track from this release even after six+ listens!

In the destructive flood commonly known as the power metal movement, Avian are yet another soulless act with little to offer to anyone else than the most dedicated German fans of the genre. Labels like Silverwolf Productions should soon begin realizing that there are so few people who actually like this kind of stuff that it doesn't pay to sign bands like Avian. Either find another Dragonforce type of act in the genre, or expand into something more plausible than power metal.

Download: Ashes And Madness
For the fans of: F5, Iron Fire
Listen: Myspace

Release date 27.02.2009
Silverwolf Productions