You Will Come [EP]

Finding myself with an MP3 player loaded with this album, I listened to it seriously for a couple of full runs today, and decided to review it. Auvernia are a Buenos Aires-based extreme power metal band; their EP, You Will Come, was released on August 19th 2006 through the open-source music website Jamendo.

Clocking in at just over 20 minutes, You Will Come is a four-track tour de force of extreme power metal. It's quite an impressive sounding thing, with wide-ranging influences and a huge variety of instruments. In this respect, it's quite unusual for something of this genre, which I find tends to be guitar and techno-ish keyboard effects. Auvernia have taken the different step of adding in extras like bells and harpsichords and other random instruments. This is especially prevalent in the final track You Will Come, where there's an acoustic breakdown. Their instrumentation and power metal style is quite similar to the Japanese outfit Wizard's Hymn.

For the most part, the tracks sound like a power metal version of Children of Bodom, with such riffs as the opening of The Successor. However, to add a touch of variety, they've also added in lashings of high-speed power metal like Dragonforce. There're classical influences too, much like the band Demons & Wizards. This comparison goes a little deeper still because of the twin vocal singing, a stylistic element unusual for the genre. In a similar vain is the track In The Fire on the Roadrunner United compilation.

The vocals are worth mentioning; part of the time they're almost a parody of Iron Maiden, whilst at other times it descends into the unwittingly terrifying croons of melodic black metallers Cradle of Filth. But there is also a bit on You Will Come that sounds as cheesy as Dream Evil - a jokily grim voice proclaiming odd things.

All-in-all, it's power metal, but it's surely not as we know it. Traditional power metal bits, sure, but it's got the stylings of Swedish death metal as well as some melodic black metal and just a smidgen of thrash. Naturally there's a healthy dose of cheese thrown in, but it's not an explosion at a gorgonzola factory as some power metal can tend towards. It's a great little EP, and I'd like to hear a lot more of these guys. In fact, frankly, if this is the sound of Argentinian power metal, then all of us European power metallers should be heading south west. Soon.

A good power metal album. Needs a little polish to be perfect but this still belongs in every power metal collection.

If your idea of fun is slamming your face in your car door.