Ilium | Genetic Memory
by Justin Gaines
Staff Writer
Genetic Memory is the fifth full-length album from (mostly) Australian power metal band Ilium, and is the second Ilium release to feature former Riot and Masterplan (and current Creation’s End) vocalist Mike DiMeo. The band started with a more straightforward power metal sound, but since adding DiMeo to the lineup the Ilium sound has gradually shifted in a more melodic and progressive direction.
Genetic Memory, if not a full-blown concept album, at least operates on a central theme – a scienece-fiction type look at genetic engineering – that ties these eleven songs together. Perhaps it’s this more complex subject matter that prompted the somewhat more progressive approach to songwriting, but the musicianship on this album tends to be a bit more intricate and nuanced than on previous efforts, especially on the mesmerizing title track and the 11-minute closer “Irrinja.” You can almost see the melodies and rhythms working into a DNA-like helix. Keyboards are used tastefully to add depth and atmosphere, but they never really creep to the forefront, which is a welcome change from a lot of power metal albums. Having a vocalist of Mike DiMeo’s caliber has also made a huge difference in Ilium’s overall sound, especially on this album. The band was always quite solid, and the albums with Dungeon/Lord vocalist Lord Tim are all enjoyable slabs of power metal, but Mike DiMeo has this great combination of grit and finesse, not to mention and incredible range and power to spare, that makes these songs soar. Hearing him belt out songs like “Kinaesthesia” and “Hostile Sky” is enough to convince you that he is probably the most underrated vocalist in metal today.
Longtime fans of the band should not be disappointed by Ilium’s latest offering, and Genetic Memory also makes for an ideal introduction to the band for Mike DiMeo fans who might be trying Ilium for the first time. It’s definitely an album that will please fans of hard-hitting melodic heavy metal along the lines of Masterplan, Pretty Maids, Riot, At Vance, Evidence One, Astral Doors and Axel Rudi Pell.
Genre: Power Metal
Band:
Jason Hodges (g)
Adam Smith (g) (b) (k)
Tim Yatras (d)
Mike DiMeo (v)
Track Listing:
1. Kinaethsesia
2. Littoria
3. Grey Stains the Rainbow
4. The Immortality Gene
5. Ephemeral
6. Genetic Memory
7. Hostile Sky
8. Fevered Tongue
9. Neanderthal Within
10. Ghosts in Flesh
11. Irrinja
Label: Escape
Website: www.myspace.com/iliummetal
Hardrock Haven rating: 8/10