After a short, but very impressive EP,
Enceladus has returned in 2014 to present their first full-length album. “Journey
To Enlightenment” is pretty much everything someone could hope for in power
metal. Beyond the fact that it is a well-written album, its best quality is
that it has an unbridled enthusiasm. A lot of the best power metal bands are
late in their career at this stage of the game, and more than a few of them
sound a bit tired. Enceladus’s “Journey To Enlightenment” is a jolt of energy
that will bring you back to the glory days of power metal. The title track
alone is the best example: it opens the album and is nearly 4 minutes of
nothing but guitar solos. This is a recurring theme on the album: there are
guitar solos everywhere. Sole guitar player Geo is absolutely ridiculous on
this album. In fact, there are probably more guitar solos than riffs on “Journey
To Enlightenment”.
Enceladus draws inspiration from quite a
few bands on their debut album. Lost Horizon is an obvious mention because both
bands give off that spacey epic metal vibe. Dragonforce is another solid
comparison simply because of the guitar work. While Enceladus is certainly more
restrained in their need for speed, there is an unbelievably amount of
shredding. Even when there is singing going on, Geo is still delivering leads
underneath. As they were on the EP, Soikkam’s vocals are still impressive. He
has a large range, but what improves his performance here is the vocal
lines he sings. Some of these choruses are so catchy, and he does a really
great job with them. In fact, this brings up the next great part of this album:
the songs. With 13 tracks that are all relatively similar (high-speed power
metal), this album could get boring fast. Fortunately, Enceladus is able to
come up with enough hooks, catchy melodies, and memorable moments for this
release to be stellar.
The three tracks that appeared on the EP
are still some of the best here. In fact, “Ethereality” is the band’s strongest
song because of its sheer aggression in delivering bombastic power metal. Aside
from those three tracks, however, this album is still great. Another highlight,
“Live Or Submit”, comes after the intro track. This song shows Soikkam at his
best, delivering some high-quality vocal lines. “Darkened Aura” is another fantastic
tune, in part because it lives up to its name. Geo’s leads on this song are a
lot more sinister than anything else on the record, and it is certainly the
song with the most variation of the record. The verses are incredibly thrashy,
and provide ample headbanging material.
It would be a futile effort to go through
every song and list the good qualities, as they’re pretty much endless. There
are a couple of tracks that aren’t quite as strong as some others, but there
isn’t a single moment of boredom on this record. “Journey To Enlightenment” is
one of the most inspired power metal albums in years. While the individual
elements present on this album are not necessarily original, they are combined
in a way that makes Enceladus unlike any of their peers. This album truly is a
journey to enlightenment!
Highlights
"Live Or Submit"
"Ethereality"
"Frigid Vigor"
"Darkened Aura"
Final Rating
4.6/5 or 92%.
