Magica
The Scroll of Stone

August 2004
Released: 2004, Divenia
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Waspman

It’s not too often that you hear of a metal band hailing from Romania so I was quite intrigued when I read that Magica hails from there. What, I wondered, would a Romanian heavy metal band sound like? Well, as it turns out, this particular band sounds very much like oh-so-typical power metal with female vocals that occasionally attempt to sound like Nightwish’s Tarja.

Some background on Magica: formed in 2002 by Bat, Vali, and Ana. After a mere two months of writing the band had enough material ready for this album! That’s amazingly fast, by anyone’s standards. Then again, how hard is it to write paint by numbers power metal? The band even concocted its own fantasy yarn involving a princess and an evil demon to tell throughout the 12 songs.

OK, so it’s power metal. Is it any good? Yes and no. There are some hard hitting songs on this disc, for sure. The one-two punch of “The Sorcerer” and “Road to the Unknown” is kickass, mainly because the band forgoes the usual speed elements in favor of a mid-paced crunch. “Road to the Unknown” also highlight’s Ana’s impressive vocal range although she still needs to develop an identity of her own. “Mountains of Ice” is a great slice of speedy metal with a ridiculously catchy chorus.

There are just two things holding this disc back. One, the rest of the songs are far too average to make a lasting impression, and two, the production is extremely thin sounding. Not that I want a slick production, but something a bit more powerful would have really helped some of the songs stand out more. This is a good first effort for Magica, and with work already commenced on a follow-up, they should prove to be a solid, if unspectacular addition to any power metal fan’s discography.