Twins Crew – Veni Vidi Vici (Beyond the Storm Productions)
Thursday, 4th February 2016
Significance to this Swedish sextet’s name comes down to the twin guitar players Dennis and David Janglöv are actually…twins! At least Twins Crew is a touch heavier than those golden locked Nelson gentlemen that were MTV darlings at the tail end of the glam era…digression over. Together since 2007, the GIT graduates hone their skills in a power metal with traditional inflections mold on their third record Veni Vidi Vici.
After the 35 second bombast/choir chant “Divide Et Impera” intro, the title cut showcases a little more of their mid-tempo anthem swagger which differs slightly from their Helloween/Stratovarius penchant on 2013’s The Northern Crusade – although the chorus is tailor made for the mead hall/ early Edguy contingency. The Janglöv brothers and keyboardist Nicko Dimarino ramp up the power antics in classic syncopation rhythm/ lead tradeoffs for many of the faster songs such as “Show No Mercy” and “Sky Is Falling” (the latter Stratovarius would be proud of as a Visions-oriented number).
Where Twins Crew diversifies musically is when they choose to emphasize a lot of 80’s traditional riffs and simpler bass/drum parts – “Stand Your Ground” reaching through because of a massive Accept main hook, while “Ghost of the Seven Seas” even ventures a tad into Elvenking folk/power crossover territory because of the cultural syncopation and open, adventure-laden verse tradeoffs between Andreas Larsson and a huge background choir. Speaking of Andreas – the man has decent personal inflections to be a convincing singer, but occasionally weakens the overall final product because of his limitations in the upper falsetto or lower registers, most evident on the semi-ballad “Burn the Witch”.
Twins Crew did open their approach in terms of serving the listeners a great mixture of standard power numbers along with mid-tempo and slower material that won’t peg them as total Teutonic clones – as long as the band is willing to step their vocal game up, Veni Vidi Vici could be a great springboard for the group in establishing a wider following for those who yearn for more Hammerfall/Sabaton offspring.
