XTASY – Eye of the Storm

Whether you consider Spain’s female fronted band Xtasy melodic Hard Rock or Heavy Metal, fans of both genre’s will find a few real gems here on their 3rd album Eye of the Storm.  What started out in 2013 as a studio project with guitarist Jorge Olloqui and singer/keyboardist Silvia Idoate has become a solid, hard working metal band that have turned it up a notch for the fans here in 2020.

Die Young

The opening track “Die Young” kicks off the album with tight, catchy riffs, and snappy double kicks to put this first track squarely in the Heavy Metal genre. Jorge Olloqui’s fluid guitar solo works perfectly with the strong anthemy vocals by Silvia Idoate.  This cut is definitely in the right slot at #1, and is the strongest cut on the record.  “Play with Fire” follows with it’s straight ahead Rock feel and strong choruses, making you tap your foot and sing along. This track lands closer to the Hard Rock genre, and is a solid contender in the #2 slot.

Eye of the Storm

The title cut “Eye of the Storm” draws us a little closer to Heavy Metal again, and has lots of hooks to keep you listening. The album has a mix that reminds us of the late, great 80s Metal with it’s big reverbs, deep delays on the vocals and punchy 4/4 beats, and “Perfect Strangers” continues with this theme.  As the 4th track “Welcome to My World” kicks off, we are back in melodic Hard Rock territory, and the change of tempo here is welcome.  As the album progresses, we encounter a lot of the same tempos and beats in the songs that makes us yearn for a little more variety, and starts to detract a bit. The first 4 tracks are definitely the strongest on the record, though all the songs are well done.

Final Notes

The one thing that this album could use is a much louder mix on Silvia Idoate’s vocals. She seems to be just under the guitars throughout the whole album. When you are doing melodic Hard Rock (or any melodic rock/metal) the singer should dominate the mix so that we can understand all of the words and get hooked by not only the melodies, but also the message that the band is putting out there.  Idoate’s voice is strong enough to be up front in the mix, and would be much more powerful with less reverb and delay. Great singers rarely need these things except as a bit of seasoning to ‘spice’ things up here and there.

Overall, this is a very solid album that could use a little better production to really showcase their talents, along with a little more variety in the tempos. Keep your eye on this band, as they are only getting better with every album.

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Tracklist

1. Die Young
2. Play with Fire
3. Eye of the Storm
4. Perfect Strangers
5. Welcome to My World
6. The War
7. Flesh & Blood
8. Crashing Down
9. Nowhere to Run
10. The Clock
11. Silent Heroes

CD: (00:41:00)

Lineup

Silvia Idoate – vocals
Jorge Olloqui – guitar
Chema Herrero – guitar
David Clavero – bass
Gari Irazu – drums