Country of origin:
Netherlands
Location:
Den Bosch, North Brabant
Status:
Active
Formed in:
1999
Genre:
Progressive/Symphonic Metal
Lyrical themes:
Fantasy, Personal
Current label:
Unsigned/independent
Years active:
1999-present
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艺人：Xystus
语种：英语
唱片公司：Sensory
发行时间：2008年09月30日
专辑类别：录音室专辑
专辑风格：重金属 Heavy Metal, 前卫金属 Progressive Metal, 斯堪的纳维亚金属 Scandinavian Metal
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1. Overture (3:02)
2. My Song Of Creation (3:40)
3. The Traveller (4:50)
4. Last Breath (4:57)
5. Divided We Stand (4:30)
6. The Conlict (6:33)
7. Destiny Unveiled (5:27)
8. My Time Of Need (4:11)
9. Forever Bound (3:47)
10. The Message (6:15)
11. Balance Restored (3:08 )
12. God Of Symmetry (6:39)
What caught my eye about this... other than Simone Simons being one of the five vocalists (which is actually the only reason I even heard about this album) is that it was written as a stage show, opera, musical, whatever you want to call it, with the album nicely accompanying the show. An actual metal opera, awesome. The live show is long over, and as of writing this the DVD of the show is due out shortly, so all we have right now is this album, and can I just say, yes. Yes. This album - yes.
Apparently it took a year and a half to write the music and show, and none of that time went to waste. It's only a shame that Equilibrio won't get the amount of exposure that it deserves - a blurb from Epica/Simone about her part in it being the biggest promotion it will likely ever get outside of Holland. The guys from Xystus are really a backing to the Utrechtsch Studenten Concert orchestra, the orchestra definitely takes center stage on the non-vocal front. The music ranges from sappy to deadly as it tells the story of... well... err... whatever the story is. Obviously I don't pay very much attention to that story stuff, oops.
Other than Simone Simons, the other vocalists are Bas Dolmans (Xystus... well he would be a singer, wouldn't he?), George Oosthoek (Orphanage), Michelle Splietelhof and John Vooijs (both are apparently well known Dutch musical actors). Dolmans vocals are cheese-ball power metal style, Oosthoek growls (because... he's evil), Simone is like magical and ethereal or something, and the musical actors both sound like... well, musical actors.
All in all it's an epic and ambitious musical journey that fails to disappoint. An excellent fusion of metal into an opera, unlike other efforts in a similar vein the band doesn't aim to seek attention and show off, they're just another part of the orchestra. There aren't guitars during every second of the music, but there's no reason for french horns to be constantly playing either, so that just goes to show that the point isn't to be metal that happens to have an orchestral accompaniment, it's an honest musical with metal injected into it's veins to give it some balls.
Innumerable power metal bands have attempted a project like this, but they often forget to stop playing hyper-speed guitar leads and just write some good music that tells a story with some feeling to it. Xystus have attained the holy grail of power metal, symphonic metal, and epicness in general, they have created a true metal opera. Avantasia, Rhapsody and company always sound like any other power metal, Aina (also from The Netherlands) failed massively, Therion and Haggard are something completely different. No, I can't think of anything else similar to Equilibrio that isn't either overly power metal or just a massive failure. Just listen to this album, it's epic, it transcends metal, it's a masterpiece.
/1 
发表于 2020-1-11 15:29:15
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