Soul Stealer - _Soul Stealer_
(Ledo Takas, 2008)
by: Nikola Shahpazov (7 out of 10)
Here's something you don't see every day at Chronicles of Chaos -- the very mention of the word Eurovision somehow doesn't click with the extreme content of this noble site. And still, there is a good reason to start this here review with a short retrospective of this year's edition held in the Serbian capital Belgrade. Metal (of predominantly Finnish origin) has already successfully penetrated the competition -- we saw Apocalyptica play live, Lordi actually winning it and Teräsbetoni making it to this year's final round. Yet I suspect very few of the CoC readers actually watched this year's Eurovision, so we just missed Lithuania's representative Jeronimas Milius singing a likeable rock ballad "Nomads in the Night". Aided by the wonders of the net (namely YouTube) it is easy to conclude that the young lad has got quite an impressive voice. And this is exactly why Soul Stealer's self titled debut rocks.As far as heavy metal is concerned, quality of the vocals is crucial, and heavy metal is what Soul Stealer are all about. The Lithuanians deliver some class stuff -- well balanced and nicely executed, a very potent record altogether, especially having in mind it is the band's very first album. No real surprises though, no innovation, but a load of what any Iron Maiden / Helloween fan would find a delight. Main objective has obviously been melody rather than heaviness -- as displayed on "Dar Nevelu" or "The Reaper", the main bulk of the album is formed by the rather Yingwie Malmsteen-esque interaction of guitar and keyboards aided by Jeronimas' powerful vocals. Although not shining with a load of new ideas and suggesting a rather traditional approach to heavy metal, _Soul Stealer_ has its moments, and they outnumber most objections one might come up with.
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