ELA
Second Reality

Today I am writing about German artist ELA who with the album Second Reality releases the fourth album under the ELA moniker. And as usual when it comes to power metal I have to check the boxes on the checklist, so what about this one? Well, catchy choruses and good production – check! Strong melodies – check! Energy and good songs – check! Strong vocals, in this case female rock vocals – check! The album seems to tick the boxes and it is rather enjoyable to listen to, the cover art by Yrlund is really well made as usual but I don’t think it qualifies as one of the best I have seen this year or by Yrlund. It has the contents but perhaps not the cover so you see: you should never judge a book by its cover, or should you?

On closer examination, when I really sit down and starts to analyse it would seem that the cover represent the content really well. The album is as the cover, well made, even good, but not particularly memorable. It ticks the boxes, pushes the right buttons but breaks no new ground and contains more or less the expected content in terms of songs and melodies. The album’s dozen tracks plays for little under fifty minutes so it isn’t too long or anything like that, it just isn’t as memorable as the best albums we hear in this genre. Still, I would claim that it is good enough to not be disappointing to anyone buying it.

It is an album that probably won’t have a particularly wide appeal but it should probably appeal to those who enjoy their power metal – especially the female fronted variety. And then you sort of hit the wall in the writing, because what do you write about another generic power metal album, it may be good, may be very well crafted but in the end it will never really make a mark in the scrolls of music. I don’t think that it is a very exciting album; I would say that it is good but not overly exciting.

I would say that ELA has some good music to offer and that potential buyers probably won’t be disappointed with what they get to hear, I know I have enjoyed listening to the album but I doubt I will remember it when 2017 is to be summarised a few months from now. But lets just end this review by concluding that ELA has put together a pretty strong album, if you like power metal it is probably worth checking out.

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