Galneryus’s 6th album
Resurrection has a symbolic meaning with its title. A meaning that inquires the resurrection of inspiration filled with flowing ideas. All because of a new line-up change in the vocal department, as well as a new bass player. Although long standing vocalist Masahiro Yamaguchi, left the band back in 2008, somehow or other, the remaining members of the band found an easy replacement for bass, and surprisingly enough, a vocalist with similarities of Masahiro. Even though
Resurrection is just another typical Galneryus album of in-your-face neo-classical power metal with no exact innovation, the album still holds its ground and shows that the band will have to go through extreme changes to show any slip up in their style.
Even if there is a new man behind the microphone and singing his heart out, all Galneryus fans should be able to accept the new vocalist, because he has many similarities to Masahiro’s vocal range, but still distinguishable. Generally speaking, Galneryus is a hit or miss band, but I see a glimmer of light that has
Resurrection able to reach out to different power metal fan bases with open-arms of acceptance. What I mean by that is, is that this album should be received with positive acclaim from various power metal fans. However, Galneryus has been compared to Dragonforce before, but there’s a difference that shouldn’t turn off any slight of desire to write off this band. That difference mainly can reside to the fact that Galneryus doesn’t speed up their music in the studio, nor do they play carbon copies of every song they make, instead they play a variety of different songs with different tempos, but their style of neo-classical shred can be a determining factor of whether the listener can bear with their music. Having that said, most people who aren’t power metal fans probably won’t enjoy this album, because it is extremely cheesy.
In the beginning of the album we see a typical neo-classical opener, though it’s not an intro that has mindless shredding, but it does have musical consistency that actually has a clear direction for its composition. And that clear composition in the intro leads straight into an album highlight, “Burn My Heart”. Even if the first proper song is guilty as sin for being sooo damn catchy, it really shows what the album will be showcasing throughout the entire duration of the album: soaring vocals, melodic guitar riffs, drum patterns that aren’t repetitive, filled with lots and lots of neo-classical shredding from both Syu (lead guitarists) and Yuhki (Keyboards). Even if every song runs in the same vein of each other, that doesn’t mean that, there aren’t a lot of songs worth checking out. Actually it’s quite the opposite. Songs like “Carry On”, “Destiny”, “Emotions”, “A Far Off-Distance”, and “Still Loving You” show different characteristics that separate each other from the rest of the album, and leave them being “entities” of their own.
Overall,
Resurrection is a must have, or at least be tried by any power metal fan. Though it may be like any other Galneryus album – it still separates itself from the rest, somehow or the other. As for non-power metal fans, I would only recommend this album if you enjoy “Carry One” or “Destiny”.
