X-PIRAL „Poison Eyes”

Music: Power Metal
Country: Greece
Website: www..x-piral.com
Duration: 42:36
Cool songs: Crawling in your Minds, Streel Tears, 15 Years of Lies

Most Americans could probably count on one hand the number of Greek metal bands they know. Burning Star Records hope to change this problem. A good place for the label to start is with their power metal band, X-PIRAL. Not only is this Greek five-piece band laden with talent, they also bring originality, which is something this genre desperately needs. “Poison Eyes” doesn’t contain cheesy storybook narrations or tales of dragons and elves, although the background keyboards do add a sense of enchantment to tracks like “Crawling in your Minds” and “Street Tears.” They have also secured their own identity by not seeking to emulate the past works of power metal creators, HELLOWEEN.

So, we have a list of the things you won’t find on “Poison Eyes” what about the things you will find? The things you will find include expert song writing, catchy vocal lines and guitar riffs, tight musicianship, and solid production values. Singer Miachael Apostolakis (say that three times really fast) is both the champion and the bane of the band. His vocals are very controlled for this type of music, most often opting for a mid-range, yet passionate serenade. In a couple of places throughout the album, he gets into trouble by forcing his vocals beyond their range. For instance “Fifteen Years of Lies” he pushes out a girlish, high-pitched yell. Apostolakis stays within his limits for most of the album, though. The passion pouring out of his vocals combined with unforgettable hooks are clearly where he excels.

As an added bonus, “Poison Eyes” comes with multimedia enhancement. When the video starts up, a picture of the band graces the screen. When you click on the band’s logo, a digital misty mountain landscape is unveiled with a menu below. A Greek-flavored guitar will keep your feet tapping while you browse the various features like live and promo photos, individual band member info, detailed band bio, lyrics to “Poison Eyes” and PC wallpaper. All of these features are only an appetizer, though; the main course is the “Crawling in your Minds” video. The video could be marketed alone because we all know this will not find its way to MTV2 (maybe in Greece).

Power metal fans sick of hearing the same copy cat bands come out year after year should pick up a copy of “Poison Eyes.” In addition, this is a disc for fans of the classic bands like JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN who can’t stomach the harsh vocals of today’s extreme bands or the cheesiness and unoriginality of some of the newer clean-vocal bands.

note: 7/10

Tracklist

1. Steel Tears
2. Crawling In Your Minds
3. Metal Storm
4. Poison Eyes 5. Winter Skies
6. Plains Of Perfection
7. 15 Years Of Lies
8. Far Horizons

Line-up

Michael Apostolakis – vocals
Nick Papanikolaou – guitars
Dimitris Marinis – synth & piano
Thanos Tzanetopoulos – guitars (Inactive Messiah)
Makis Petritsis – bass Guitar
Fragiskos Samoilis – drums