Fairyland - The Fall of an Empire
78%
Previously called Fantasy and Fantasia, Fairyland finds its roots in France. The story of this group is actually not that unique; recording demos resulted into a more and more specification of the style which, in this case, worked out well by being an opening act for Sonata Arctica. After a debut (which I’m not familiar with unfortunately) it took the band three years to come up with this release.
As regular as the story of the band is, so regular is their music, but great in its kind. Of course, similarities are easy to come up with for the ones who are not that familiar with melodic/speed metal. But Fairyland has got a sound that is so much lighter than for instance Rhapsody of Fire or Sonata Arctica. The band name really reflects the sound of the band.
Almost every song is a lovely ride through the world that Fairyland creates. The song structures are very easy to listen due to a fine production, which is so important for this kind of music. Do not expect typical verse-chorus patterns though; the music can be better described by comparisons of film music which contain long stretched song patterns. My favorite tracks are ‘Eldanie Uellë’, ‘The Fall of an Empire’ and ‘The Awakening’ because on these songs, the band emphasizes the combination of high and low speed more than on the other tracks and the technical skills (especially the vocals) are worked out a little better.
For the rest, The Fall of an Empire is just a very, very decent album which gives a little new insight in the opportunities of speed metal.
