FARO – Angelost

The album Angelost is a Rock project released MTM. This is the second CD from FARO, but the line up is changed since the debut album Dawn Of Forever. Only the vocalist Sompala has been on both albums. Producer Markus Teske has a solid team at his hands for this release: Chitral Somapala (Avalon), Barish Kepic, Michael Müller, and Dominik Hülshorst (Bonfire).

Faro sounds like very classical Melodic Hard Rock. It is a good album, but nothing special. This music has been played before. The material is too standard and lacks that extra punch. Some of the tracks are a bit too much commercial, but then again this could be a good album to listen to when on a long drive!

Most of the songs are mid-tempo with nice vocals and rhythm guitars, and their music is influenced by Dio and some old Bon Jovi. These 11 tracks are quite enjoyable, but not strong enough in some cases. The mid– and up-tempo nature at the album insures that it all flows along nicely.

Vocalist Somapala, known as the lead singer in Avalon, has got an impressive voice. In the song called “The Forbidden Land,” he is doing the best performance on this release. His voice fits perfectly with the material. It is amazing. So it is not a surprise that he was chosen to sing a Lion Beer commercial in his home town. This is not the heaviest song at the album, but still one of the highlights. This is one of few tracks that will catch the listener’s attention. Besides the vocals, the guitars and drums also sound great here.

“Strange Dreams” is one of the weaker songs because it sounds so monotonous. It’s like it doesn’t get to the point… like a long, boring travel without direction… just spinning around in circles.

Regarding the production, it sounds ok… nothing more, nothing less. It is not exciting at all. The most impressive songs on this release are “The Forbidden Land” and “The One,” which is one of the slower tracks; a beautiful ballad.

The closing track is a cover version of Springsteens’s mega hit “Dancing In The Dark.” It is a bit risky to make a cover of The Boss, and Faro doesn’t perform it as good as the original, but it still is a good closer! This release is certainly good, but there’s room for improvement.

Lineup

Lead Vocals – Chitral “Chity” Somapala (FIREWIND, AVALON)
Guitars – Barish Kepic (JADED HEART)
Bass – Michael Müller (JADED HEART)
Drums – Dominik Hülshorst (BONFIRE)