Exciting times in modern music – where engaging in multiple bands can prove fruitful for making a career without having to hold down a side gig/day job. For Dynazty vocalist Nils Molin, he recently took over the clean male vocals in Amaranthe in 2017 – sure to give his main work here an added profile/sales boost. Hopefully Firesign continues the trend of the band gaining comfort in their modern, melodic power metal meets hard rock ways – and after numerous spins, these songs fulfill that desire of producing infectious hooks on all fronts that keep engagement high in their preferred style.
The symphonic/80’s cyber keyboard passages explored on the previous Titanic Mass effort from guitarist/keyboardist Rob Love Magnusson seem to be pushed a little further on certain tracks as main hooklines – check out “The Grey” and the title track for two clear examples where the ivory and orchestral action captivates and supplies the groove. The quintet never wavers from their metal history, making sure that the guitars still carry the crux of the attention – fluid lead breaks and crunchy, heads down riffing part and parcel of key tracks like “In the Arms of a Devil” and “Follow Me”, the latter featuring nifty circular movements in the Symphony X vein. Continuing in that melodic Euro power metal tradition, the modern elements (Battle Beast, Amaranthe related) never deflate the Dynazty attack – the band blending together influences from the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s in an addictive way from the first song to the last. The two epics “Ascension” and “The Light Inside the Tunnel” are spread out as track five and eleven – the former containing a semi-folk feel at first done electrically before going into more of a mid-tempo, triumphant atmosphere, while the latter is just AOR-style bliss as Nils uses all facets of his heart-warming, powerhouse range (Russell Allen and Mike Reno would be proud).
You want a band in 2018 to deliver the goods a la Europe or Pretty Maids, with more finesse and modern textures? Dynazty fit that bill and so much more – let’s hope that Nils’ activities for Amaranthe do not slow down the steady, excellent output for his original outfit in the future.