• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

The promo for Artaban’s Redemption touted their EP Broken Puppets as sounding like the power metal of the early millennium, and they had this fanboy at "sounds like Sonata Arctica." I guess on the surface that isn’t too far off as this music is quick, happy, keyboard-infused stuff, but the sound is not quite right. It is overly sterile and muted, like everything is synthesized, not just the keyboards. This robs the songs of some of the excitement I expect from power metal. Artaban’s Redemption overcome this hindrance only once, on "Shutting Down." This track embraces the energy of the double-kick drums and has a wickedly catchy chorus replete with high-pitched singing and plenty of backing vocals. So that is one out of five songs that gets the foot tapping, with the other four mediocre knockoffs of bands like Heavenly and Angra. There’s a hint of promise, but even for die-hard power metal fans there isn’t a lot to make this worth seeking out.