Tracks
1. Ray of Hope
2. Twisting the Knife
3. Return from the Ashes
4. Relief
5. Icecold
6. Apathy
7. Endeavour to live
8. All Eyes on Me
9. Bitter Visions
10. Hour Glass
11. Red Winter's Snow II: Blood
and Stone
12. Not the One

Band:
Meike Holzmann - Vocals
Chris Gutjahr - Guitars
Lukas Palme - Keyboards
Jens Hartwig - Bass
Erik Seitz - Drums

Discography:
Debut

Info

Released 26/2-2010
Reviewed 26/2-2010

Links:
voices-of-destiny.de
myspace
massacre

The first thing that struck me when I started the record called From the Ashes by Voices of Destiny was that it sounded very much like Operatika. Actually so much that I at first wondered if I by accident had selected the wrong band but they are quite far from one another in my list in the portable music player. This thought have changed over time however, still there are clearly similarities between these said bands.

Musically we are dealing with metal that is spiced up by classical elements and also by vocals from a soprano voice. Surely the name is actually rather fitting as the female vocals are also complemented by some beast vocals from a guy who growls and so on. For Voices of Destiny this beauty and the beast thing is made with a little less of the male vocals than what is usual in the genre.

This works rather well as the beast part gets a more interesting role than just a complementary vocals, here it actually adds another dimension to the music. This is actually a very interesting record, it has good songs and more importantly it has a great atmosphere which makes the fact that the real smashing hit is missing seem a little less important. The best track on the record is the opening one called Ray of Hope which actually gives a ray of hope of great music. Unfortunately the promise delivered in the first song is not realised in the coming songs.

Don’t think the last sentence in the above paragraph means that this is a poor record, I tend to think it is the opposite. No Voices of Destiny does not only show great promise, it is actually hard to imagine that this is the band’s debut album. It sounds way more mature than that.

Well, no matter what I write or think, Voices of Destiny’s debut is an interesting album with loads of atmosphere and music played by talented musicians. I surely think Voices of Destiny is a band who knows how to make interesting music and mainly throughout this record they manage to capture my interest as a listener.

Another thing worth mentioning is the excellent voice of Meike Holzmann, it is a voice that lifts this material to another level. All in all I am not really bothered by this said lack of a standout hit song as the songs on this record all hold up well and in the end it feels like it is more the atmosphere of the record than the songs themselves.

So in the end, the voices of destiny states that we are seeing a career of great music in its dawn.

HHHHHHH

Label - Massacre Records
Three similar bands - Operatika/Epica/After Forever
Rating: HHHHHHH
Reviewer: Daniel Källmalm