Winter’s Verge Tales of Tragedy
by Derric Miller
Staff Writer
The more bands like Pagan’s Mind, Steel Attack and others stray from the happy Helloween Power Metal sound, the better off the genre is. You can only have so many Hammerfalls before you crave something in that genre that is darker, more violent and therefore … different. Welcome the boys from Cyprus, Winter’s Verge, to that arena, courtesy of their new album Tales of Tragedy.
“World of Lies,” a is a heavy, gritty Power Metal anthem, complete with the double-bass frantic drumming from Chris Ioannides you’d expect, but singer George Charalambous brings a certain “manliness” to his vocals that you’ll never hear in Stratovarious or Royal Hunt. “They call you a fool if you’re a dreamer,” he nearly grunts on key before showing he can hit those insane high notes Power Metal bands always wield like a broadsword, showing off the “power” aspect of their singer.
A song like “I Swear Revenge” is one of the reasons Winter’s Verge is begin to define their own niche in the genre. Most of their songs are actual tales—they are sonic storytellers. As the song gallops forth, you hear the morbid vocals, “I swear revenge, I accept what I am—eternally damned!” The keys from Steganos Psillides add to the overall melody and creeping darkness. Harry Pari on guitar rarely plays in a helter-skelter, speed freak manner; his solos are typically understated yet mesh with the flow of the composition at all times. The harsh death vocals make this track another shade viler at the end.
“For Those Who are Gone” is their first ballad on Tales of Tragedy, replete with angelic, operatic female soprano vocals and woodwinds. Charalambous brings his voice out front, singing adeptly in harmony with the female lead at times. While not their most interesting contribution here, it’s still effective.
Their fastest and heaviest track on Tales of Tragedy is “Dark Entries,” a furious, frantic composition that is nearly neo-classical in its speed and intricacy. Pari’s riffs amaze, blazing and mammoth. Psillides adds majestic elements to the song with his keys, but this is all about the racing rhythm and Pari’s stellar slinging.
When they get to the next slower composition, you have to appreciate the title, “A Madness Once Called Love.” This is what Winter’s Verge does well, taking what you’d expect and making it shades darker. This is the closest they get to Dream Theater musically, with tempo changes and odd rhythms and passages, but it’s still more Power Metal than Progressive Metal. The song crescendos to the end, becoming heavier and faster until its frantic end … “A madness NOW called love!”
Tales of Tragedy ends on “Reflections of the Past,” one of the more mysterious songs lyrically. “Time curses everything for all of mankind. A better future, nonsense exists in their minds.” And on that note, making sure you realize that mankind is forever cursed, the album closes with a thumping, brazen exit.
Winter’s Verge is vying for positioning in a genre already stocked with world-class acts. The fact that you almost always have to measure Power Metal bands against Keeper-era Helloween is extremely daunting and perhaps unfair, but maybe the new measurement should be how much the band DOESN’T sound like Kiske’s version of Power Metal, but a more daring, less soaring and more realistic amalgam. If that’s the measuring stick, then Winter’s Verge is well on their way …
Label: Massacre Records
Online: www.myspace.com/wintersverge
Track listing:
01. World Of Lies
02. Old Man’s Wish
03. I Swear Revenge
04. For Those Who Are Gone
05. Captain’s Log
06. Envy
07. Dark Entries
08. A Madness Once Called Love
09. Tomorrow’s Dawn
10. Reflections Of The Past
Hardrock Haven rating: 7.8/10