Voici l'homme

French power metal group Darktribe has been around for ten years now, producing slick Euro-power metal albums with neoclassical influences. My colleague Joel reviewed their last album here, and after listening to Voici l'homme, I can say that the Stratovarius vibe he was getting on The Modern Age is still a major part of their sound. Voici l'homme is a biblically-inspired concept album, an ambitious undertaking and one that is full of pitfalls, but the band's significant technical ability and their unpretentious approach to the songwriting makes this a good solid power metal album. Not brilliantly original, just an easy, pleasant listen. Given the soaring tenor of their frontman and the upbeat melodies of the songs, it comes as a surprise when Darktribe shows what their guitar riffing is made of, which was a bit heavier than I expected. A crunchy, bass-heavy bag of riffs are accented with solos that are sparingly used, but shredded at top speed when they appear. Faith and Vision, one of my favorites, stays in the lower register for the verses, letting Anthony Agnello's voice climb up over the top of the chorus. Also worthy of note is Back in Light, the catchiest on the album; its simple chorus hook verges on earworm territory. Voici d'homme isn't without flaws, though they're minor. The melodies don't exactly repeat themselves, but they come close a few times. The Hunger Theory's verse is basically Back in Light played slower, and one gets the impression that the catchiness of the hook lodged itself a little too well in the brains of its songwriters. I was a little disappointed in the lack of direction in the album, too; for a concept album, it didn't seem like the songs link together all that well. Perhaps I'm being too harsh; it's possible that the band was worried about making too heavy-handed a treatment of its subject matter, which I suppose would be very easy to do. Whatever Voici l'homme may be, it's made to be untaxing to the ears. The catchy tunes and smooth vocals don't require a lot of repeat listens to like, and Darktribe fills the bottom end with just enough heaviness to keep those needing more than just pretty melodies from tossing the album away. Fans of bands such as Stratovarius or Excalion are definitely the target audience here. Bandcamp: https://scarletrecords.bandcamp.com/album/voici-lhomme.