Morgana Lefay
GRAND MATERIA

October 2005
Released: 2005, Black Mark
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Evil Rocker

A concept album from this band that has been on hiatus for a few years. Lots of good advance press. The story line is long but pertains to alchemy, religion, and immortality. It is a good read, and actually the best aspect of the album.



What we have here is a combination of traditional metal, a little thrash, and some bothersome "modern" riffs. Vocal lines are also mixed in style from clean to aggressive. This reminds me at times of NEVERMORE, though I would take MORGANA LEFAY over NEVERMORE any day. Still, the similarity is noted and from this writers perspective this is clearly a negative. I also hear some style evidence of new SYMPHORCE.



That being said, the album is well assembled and well produced in an AVANTASIA sort of way. Mind you, this sounds nothing like AVANTASIA, I refer only to the method in which the overall concept is presented. In the end, after 3 or 4 spins I find this album to have moments of good musicianship (i.e. "Hollow" and "Edge of Mind") but that's about it.



I can see how this will be appealing to many. However, it is not appealing to me, an album that I will probably never play again.