I checked out this band after reading the reviews here and after reading the music was available for free. I am posting this review because I believe the other reviews are a bit too harsh on this band, giving the impression of comparing Alerion, a small unsigned band, to a signed artist such as
To-Mera. I checked out their website and I think it is important to keep in mind that this is a demo which was basically recorded at home.
Although I agree with the previous reviews that the production is not very good when compared with that generally heard on an album of a signed band, I think that, compared to other demo's by other unsigned bands, it doesn't sound bad at all. In fact, there are many demo's out there which have far worse production. This one just seems to get a lot of exposure.
When browsing through their website, I noticed the demo has already gotten quite a bit of reviews, which might be called at least fairly positive. They are listed at http://www.alerion.nl/press.html
At the bottom of this review, I had listed the most recent review from their website, done by http://www.HardrockHaven.net, now I'll just give the link: http://www.hardrockhaven.net/reviews2007/oct2007/Alerion%20-%20Fledgling.php
Let's go through the songs one by one.
Starting with 'Hindsight (1976)', I like the intro to the song and the way the guitar and the bass follow each other after diverging initially. The main riff of the song allows the singer the center of attention, which I think she makes good use of. This is even more so during the choruses, especially the last one sounds good, although the guitar riff does not do a lot for me there. Another thing I enjoyed about the song is the way the first solo and the rhythm section combine and launch into a new, fast riff with an even faster solo.
'Estrangement' is a nice, easy and melodic song, featuring some nice teamwork between both guitars and with some keyboards as well.
Next is 'Ruins', which starts off with some real metal riffing before launching into a more doomy section with distorted and clean guitars, and building intensity, before coming to the chorus which features some nice vocal melodies. The end of the song picks up speed and ends in climax with a nice solo.
The final original song is 'Dragnipur', which makes use of lots of
Iced Earth or
Iron Maiden style galloping riffs. The vocals sound a bit more strained on this one. The male vocals on the chorus are not really vocals at all, since the guy basically just shouts the same word a few times, on which the singer responds. After about two and a half minutes the solo section starts, with a nice solo trade-off between both guitarist, before ending with a final chorus.
Megadeth's She-Wolf is the final song on the demo. It is played a bit faster and sounds rather different with female vocals. I had to get used to it at first, but after a couple of listens I really started to appreciate it. Apart from that difference the Alerion version is not that different from the original.
Concluding, I pretty much agree with most of the reviews listed on their website. My rating is therefore similar to those as well, and based on the fact that this is only a demo, but with some nice potential. I enjoyed the song structures, the guitars and the vocals. I really like the songs on this demo, although I think the playing could have been a lot tighter than it is right now. Likewise, the production could be greatly improved as well, given the proper resources.
I would like to see them continue and mature, as they are still an inexperienced band. After some more time playing together, developing their sound and getting tighter, and perhaps with some recording budget, they might be capable of some cool things.
