Excalion - Primal Exhale
Sound Riot file under heavy / power metal
 Patrick: The band Excalion was formed in 2000 and is from Finland. Despite the band having to overcome some difficulties in the past, army service of some of the band members and other practical difficulties prevented Excalion to play gigs regularly for example, Excalion released two demo’s the previous years of their existence. Their most recent demo was convincing enough for Sound Riot Records and at the end of 2003 the band signed a deal. Last year they already released a promo-cd with three songs and now their first full album is available.
Excalion plays melodic power metal. You will probably think: not again another Finish Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica clone please. Well, they do not disavow their origin. So do not expect much inventive, innovative stuff on ‘Primale Exhale’, but a shameless duplicate or even something that comes close to a copy they are certainly not! The band adds some symphonic elements and some hard rock to the tracks. Resulting in songs which are composed partially around riffs and, and here it shows that keyboard player Jarmo Myllyvirta writes a lot of the songs, a keyboard that is quite leading. Vocalist Jarmo Pääkkönen has a voice which with he is able to reach the higher notes easily and not being tedious once. The guitars generally are, just as the drums, solid without getting at the foreground that often. Most remarkable tracks are Reality Bends’, ‘Stage Of Lies’, ‘My Legacy’ and ‘For A Moment In The Spotlight’. Of course a ballad is not lacking, but ‘Heart & Home’ is just too stereotyped to be interesting.
Excalion releases with ‘Primale Inhale’ a more than nice debut album, that considering sound, has some interface with bands as Stratovarius and Symphony X. When you like power metal, you should at least give this cd a listening. All those who are not that fond of power metal probably will not find this cd that appealing. It will probably be due to the lack of originality. It will definitely be not because of the quality, for this is high!
This album is available in The Netherlands through Rock Inc.
Rating: 80/100 (details)
http://www.excalion.com
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