Michael Kiske's new project,
Unisonic, seemed very promising, indeed. Kiske and Kai Hansen together again for a full-length album is a great idea, especially considering how fantastic the two
Keepers were. Yet, we find ourselves faced with an uninspired effort by musicians who have seemingly passed their prime.
Diving into the album is an extremely easy task. Every song has a catchy riff or fun vocal melody to it, and every song apart from closer “No One Ever Sees Me” clocks at under 5 minutes, making for a very simplistic listen.
The album can hardly be called power metal as some may have expected. Gone are the bombastic riffs, the stunning rhythm or the general “epic” atmosphere, as the band heads for a more straightforward hard rock reminiscent of an early '80s sound. The band offers some interesting riffs, such as the opening riff to the title track, or the main riff found in “Renegade” or “Souls Alive”. Kiske is still a superb singer, with his clean and soaring falsettos, particularly impressive on “My Sanctuary” and “Star Rider”. The bass and drums do their job, providing a relatively steady rhythm section.
However, Unisonic's debut is unfortunately plagued by a lack of inspiration. Too many are the moments in which the band seems bored. A good example would be the mid-tempo “King for a Day”, in which only the drummer seems to be playing enthusiastically, or the two corny ballads, “Over the Rainbow” and “No One Ever Sees Me”, where forgettable solos and yawn-inducing atmospheres make them passable at best. Little focus seems to have been appointed to give the album substance, as so many of the tracks embed the same rhythm and boring one-note bass lines and riffs. “Never Too Late”, “I've Tried”, “Never Change Me” and “We Rise” are perfect examples of this. In fact, Kiske's vocals seem to be the only redeeming factor for them. As a result, listeners get a repetitive set of tracks, either too cheesy or too boring to be worth more than a couple of spins.
And so dashed are our hopes of an incredible return to form. Though the legends Kiske and Hansen may be reunited, they play it extremely safe with this debut, providing nothing more than a few enjoyable listens. Beyond that, there are a few tracks that can be worth your time, but only time will tell if anything truly great will come out of this project in the future.
Unisonic are:
~Michael Kiske (ex Helloween) - Vocals
~Kai Hansen (ex Helloween / Gamma Ray) -Guitar
~Mandy Meyer (ex Asia, Krokus and Gotthard) - Guitar
~Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69) - Bass
~Kosta Zafiriou (Pink Cream 69) - Drums
