Ivory Moon
Dark Time

Once again the Ivory Moon is rising, rising high towards the dark skies as a witness of darker times. It is the third appearance by this ivory moon that often seem to arise from the plains of Italy, not the most attractive to look at from the front but then again it is not about the looks but the sound. There is talk about progressiveness but also of something for every metal fan which is a rather bold statement I would say and something that puts a bit of pressure on the band perhaps. They do have a new female singer added to their roster for this album which is their first since 2007, judging by the cover art I think I am in for something that is the opposite of a treat but fortunately I do not judge by that.

Musically the most notable part is the dynamics of the duo singing, how the male and female vocals interact and create a dynamic atmosphere. The music in itself is a bit on the progressive side but still quite heavy metal genre typical and the “something for all” can be in the fact that they do take the tried and tested from almost anywhere and adds it to their songs giving the album as a whole an impression of déjà vu. The production made by a cool character is very good, a bit cautious if I have to say anything about it but a modern clean metal production without any spicier flavourings. Seen to sound quality I would say that it is a rather good product but nothing out of the ordinary.

The above can also be said about the album as a whole, it is good but we have heard it all before and nothing feels particularly fresh or exciting. They do have this very good vocalist interactions which makes for something at least slightly atypical and something that lends itself to enjoyment for most any listener. Other than that I think this part looking to please anyone will rather alienate many due to it having no real read line through the album which just goes down as a good listen that you then sort of forget.

There are no real memorable songs, just a collection of rather good ones but none that really stand out as an exciting ear catcher or hit, not even for the eagle eared. There is a vast ocean of metal albums out there and unfortunately for this album I think it is doomed to float there somewhere far from any land, forgotten and never to be seen again. Or you could say that it was enjoyed for a while then thrown away, not that it is bad just that this has been done before, lots of times and this is quite frankly not good enough to stand out above what has already been done which is why it will just float around somewhere not really seen. That is something of a pity, they do have some very interesting elements but they really need to let go of the fence and throw themselves down the mountain. What it means is that they have to do something much more exciting musically to complement this interesting vocalist pairing, if they do then they really have something going for them. Dark Times however, does its work well but not well enough to be remembered.