NOSTRADAMEUS

The fifth album from Sweden's devotees of the mysterious prophet. So what have the Scandinavians delighted us with? Well, "delighted" is hardly the right word here, honestly. Better to say "didn't disappoint." The band's four previous albums, while not shining with originality, were polished examples of uncompromising, moderately grandiose, and absolutely keyboard-free heavy/power metal, whose atmosphere readily justified adding the prefix "dark." So what sets this album apart? A significant reduction in the "darkness" of the compositions and, most importantly, a certain facelessness of the material. When listening, you realize it's not about the members' technique or the recording quality — those remain at their former highest level. The spark that allowed previous albums to linger in the memories and playlists of fans has somehow vanished. That said, one must understand this is quite a subjective assessment, so the album can certainly be recommended to those who valued the Swedes for their previous works, as well as to anyone for whom keyboard-free power metal might be a revelation. P.S. If you compare this disc with HAMMERFALL's latest album, I side with NOSTRADAMEUS, even despite the noted shortcomings.