Astral Doors – 2017 – Black Eyed Children
I love having friends that can recommend good music to me. Because it doesn’t really matter if you into this or that genre. It’s impossible to know it all anyway. We all need someone else to point out the music that we miss. Then again, you could ask the question how it’s possible to miss a band like Astral Doors when Black Eyed Children is their seventh album? But the truth is that I never heard about them and that’s the way it is. On the other hand, that gives me the benefit of discovering them for the first time. And it’s a really good band, I love this album!
Sometimes albums have too much music on them. It doesn’t really matter how good they are. Sometimes they just never end. Black Eyed Children is a long album to be sure. I haven’t measured the time but it sure seems that way. Not too long but it balances right on the boundaries. It’s hard to appreciate the last couple of songs even if they’re very good.
An important thing when it comes to hard rock and heavy metal is that the singer is good. In this case, he is actually phenomenal! I’ve read in a couple of places that he’s been compared to the late great Ronnie James Dio – and I agree! Especially in the bottom of his range. I would elevate him to one of the best singer around in the metal scene but I have six more albums to explore first. But he’s really great!
The songs have strong melodies and even during my first acquaintance with Black Eyed Children, I felt that this was going to be something really special. From there everything just got better and better to the point where I wonder how many times I can listen to it before it comes boring. I’m not at that point yet to be sure. The lyrics are clever too. I can’t really analyze them in that sense but the words, especially in the chorus really sticks to you. I feel a bit like they stole pieces here and there and made something of their own to it. There are some cliches there but I don’t think that’s a problem at all. If cliches sound like this they are most welcome!
