INSATIA – Phoenix Aflame

  • 2/10
    INSATIA – Phoenix Aflame - 2/10
2/10

Summary

Pitch Black Records
Release date: June 23, 2017

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User Review
6/10 (1 vote)

Recall Lene Nystrøm’s vocals of the Dance-Pop group, Aqua, and imagine her fronting a Melodic/Power Metal band; then you’ll have a solid idea of the experience of listening to Insatia’s sophomore release Phoenix Aflame.  Perhaps, a comparison to “Barbie Girl” is too much, but Zoë Federoff’s lead vocals are so thin it’s difficult for her to put any power into Insatia’s Power Metal.

Many bands start an album with a short instrumental to set the mood.  Though one doesn’t find bands starting an album with a tension building intro track complete with lyrics and the cryptic statement “…welcome back to the land of living…”, only to follow with songs that lose every ounce of momentum gained.  The four following songs contain insipid lyrics and overly simplistic melodies, repeat choruses ad nauseum, and often mix it into a wall of sludge.  Nowhere is the sludge effect more evident than in “Sacred” where keyboards, string accents, and layered guitars are combined in a mudslide of sound.  Albeit a pretty average song, the album’s highlight is the title track “Phoenix Aflame”.  The chorus isn’t too offensive, the band lets the guitar out to play a bit, and the mix is open.  Not surprisingly, the band sounds better on the ballad “Not My God” and the Folk-sy “Velvet Road”, which are a better fit for Federoff’s vocals.

There isn’t enough fire in Phoenix Aflame to overcome the album’s soggy mix, and the band’s songs aren’t good enough to distract the listener from Federoff’s deficiencies.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!

Author

  • Zac Halter

    Zac was a reviewer here at Metal Express Radio, hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. His interest in heavy music began in the 70s with his father’s Johnny Cash albums. After cousins introduced him to Steppenwolf, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, KISS, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, Johnny Cash didn’t stand a chance. The 80s were spent in full pursuit of everything Metal: searching for new music at record stores, listening to albums, studying the covers and sleeves, and attending concerts. In the 90s, he preferred Death Metal over Grunge and hosted the Death Metal Juggernaut on WUPX in Marquette, Michigan. It was advertised as the only prime time Death Metal radio show in the country.

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