Calling The Knights

Here comes a Swiss band that plays much more like Blind Guardian and Iron Maiden (yeah I know again !). This is their second album as far as I know and the advance made by Emerald is impressive ... but I'm afraid still not enough to stir up the attention from the metal kids out there. As said above, Emerald are playing a kind of heavy/power metal, influenced by bands such as Blind Guardian, Iron Maiden or Helloween. However, they also have an epic feeling in their sound. All typical elements of the power metal scene are of course present in Calling The Knights ... and at the end there are may be too many 'cliché'. The songs and the guitars are killer, but what a poor production. If I compare them to other Swiss bands, Emerald should have invested much more in the production. Of course, what is important is what is inside the songs, but the small production doesn't highlight the talent of Emerald .... and that's a shame. The other weak point here is the vocalist. Too weak nowadays to hit the media, the labels .... and especially the listener. Guitar riff on Hard To Be True is a bit influenced by Edguy's Vain Glory Opera track and Victims Of Society comes straight from Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind, but that's logical from the young bands to show their direct influence at the very beginning. I like to think this full record is a kind of demo (10 tracks !). Emerald shall continue to work hard of course as they have the talent. I hope they will have the courage to continue in this direction, because beside the weak points (production and vocals), this is the first and only Swiss band who dares to play like the big heavy metal names (Iron Maiden, Edguy, Blind Guardian) and they do it quite well. We are waiting for their next chapter now. We are sure Emerald can do much better .... and will prove it.