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Archangel |
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| KiaRa is a symphonic metal band from Russia formed in 2019 by Anna "Kiara" Moiseeva (Imperial Age) as a solo project, releasing their debut album 'Storyteller' in 2020. Combining symphonic metal with elements of black, folk, and modern metal, the album was very well received, prompting Anna to form a full band. Sophomore album 'Archangel' was released in 2022... | ||||||
| ...featuring a much heavier approach, yet still experimenting and pushing musical boundaries further than ever before. 'Archangel' contains sixteen songs over an incredible sixty four minutes - 'God Of War' bringing the album to life in a blaze of harshness! A harshness more akin to death metal than symphonic metal - and it becomes quickly apparent that this is no Imperial Age clone, KiaRa a different entity completely! The brash nature of 'God Of War' is gonna surprise a lot of listeners that have only heard Anna sing with Imperial Age - her own bands music as diverse as the worlds population! Moving away from harshness, 'By The Grace Of The Lord' is symphonic metal of the most majestic kind, Anna's voice soaring higher than angels can even manage. Her faultless vocals as perfect as you can get, 'By The Grace Of The Lord' is symphonic heavy metal heaven. Sadly my keyboard doesn't do the Russian alphabet - with the third song titled in Russian: translated, is 'Prince's Wife'. An atmospheric build up with Anna's voice taking lead, standing out loud and proud over the background of majestic balladry blended with hymn-like tendencies. | ||||||
| The staggering diversity over the opening treble has been incredible, so different to anything I have ever heard before. The meld of industrial, symphonic, a little death and folk is a mix that you would have thought would never work. And it's a mix that you need to listen to many times to understand and fully comprehend - with each new listen you hear something new. Heavying things up, 'Requiem For The Immortality' is a crushing cacophony of hard hitting symphonic metal thunder - the band delivering one of the most diverse sounding albums I think I've ever heard! The instrumental 'Black Sun' is heavily keyboard led, full of atmosphere and a serenity level that'll relax even the most wound up person on the planet. Think of those relaxation tapes that you can get, 'Black Sun' would not go amiss on one of those! Maintaining a strong keyboard influence, 'Nostalgia' keeps the album in a state of serenity, with the most angelic of vocals heard so far - Anna's voice reaching heights that I could never match - not even after a swift kick in the nuts, err I mean crown jewels! | ||||||
| Picking up the pace and thunder, 'Hope' is a rampaging slab of symphonic power metal, highly energetic and more like what you'd expect of a symphonic metal band. But then this KiaRa - where you've got to expect the unexpected! But 'Hope' is classic sounding, and will turn many on to the bands music, KiaRa's following just getting bigger and bigger. Balladry rears its head once more, with 'Last Goodbye' floating in like a cloud gliding by on a windy summers day. Progressing to become a lot heavier than expected for a pure ballad, 'Last Goodbye' remains at the mellower end of the metal genre, raising just one or two lighters in the air. Twanging into life, 'Heart Of Life' is more like a pure ballad, its mellowness low enough to move listeners into a dream state where swaying from side to side is definitely the norm. But once again the band descend into a heavy place where the word ballad is not overly used. Such imagination, creativity, and diversity - what a listening experience 'Archangel' (the album) is becoming. | ||||||
| Moving toward symphonic power metal with a heavy groove, 'We Are The Stardust' is traditional sounding fare with industrial leanings. KiaRa once again exploring new directions and breaking boundaries. It's very hard to pigeon hole this band into any one genre of music - the influences and styles vary way too much! The title song 'Archangel' is an atmospheric and thoroughly entertaining cinematic surround sound blockbuster that has the biggest impact of any song on offer. Including an anthemic touch, and majestic moments that sets it apart from everything that has gone before. | ||||||
| And of the sixteen songs on offer, 'Archangel' (the song) is the eleventh and final offering - the remaining five described as bonus tracks. The first two of which are Russian sung versions of 'We Are The Stardust' and the title song 'Archangel' - both sounding the same, just sung in Anna's native language. The final three songs are orchestral versions of 'By The Grace Of The Lord' , 'God Of War', and (making its third appearance) the title song 'Archangel'. | ||||||
| Overall, an incredible diversity of songs on offer, displaying many different influences, attracting a wide array of fans. | ||||||
| Review by Iron Mathew Collins | ||||||
| Reviewed for KiaRa | ||||||
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