HARDWARES

Only a few months removed from the double live, orchestral offering, the raven-haired Simone Simons is back on the shelves, with 13 new songs, including the 13:32 Kingdom Of Heaven (brutal opening riffage) and a 9:28 closing title track! For better or worse, the Dutch continue the symphonic-death metal mix, utilizing every opportunity to take the vocals out of the mouth of Simons, be it guitarist/founder Mark Jansen’s growl, voiceovers or multiple voice choirs. Make no mistake, beauty is certainly the calling card and overall focus, but beast and diversions share the spotlight, all the while moving along to upbeat rhythms. Some complain the power metal genre never really takes off, try ‘Martyr Of The Free World’, a nice dichotomy between shredding and subtlety, in just over five minutes. ‘The Price Of Freedom’ is a 1:17 montage of speeches from Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Barrack Obama, while ‘Tides Of Time’ is the lone ballad, given the full aria treatment. Another historical figure (George Bush Sr.) crop up on an aggressive ‘Semblance Of Liberty’ and ‘White Waters’ is a duet between Simons and Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica). Become familiar with these tunes, as a North American tour gets underway at the end of January, 2010.