Review Summary: By combining Melodic Deathmetal, Black Metal, and Power Metal, Skyfire create a unique, and proggressive sound on their sophomore release (Mind Revolution).
Skyfire is living proof that you don't have to be well known, and famous to be an awesome band. Hailing from the Melodic death metal capital of Sweden, skyfire is a force to be reckoned with. When most people first hear Skyfire they call them a rip-off of Children of Bodom, and Dark Tranquility, but the truth is there is much more going on here than what first meets the ear.
This is Skyfire's second album, and my personal favorite. The guitars, and keyboards are almost always harmonized to create amazing neo-classical melodies, the kind that have not been heard since In Flames released the Jester Race. The guitar riffs are very fast, and technical similar to Dissection on Storm of The Lights Bane. The only real problem with the guitars on Mind Revolution is the lack of guitar solos. It has always been my belief that if you have good guitarists, you should give them a surplus of lightning fast rapid fire guitar solos. However solos are not always necessary to make an awesome album, they would still help.
The vocals are very well done, and are the only thing that really bears any resemblance to Children of Bodom. They are constantly a raspy yell with varying pitches, as opposed to many bands in the genre today that constantly scream the tonic of their song. The lyrics explore insanity, isolation, loneliness, and the self, much different from Timeless departure which mostly contains lyrics about death, mysticism, and the apocalypse. In both cases all vocal related work is very good on this album.
The rhythm section is good, and bad. The drums switch between frantic blast beats during the verses, and slower more rhythmically complex grooves during the choruses, and slower more melodic parts. But the biggest problem is the bass. On this album the bass is practically inaudible, as opposed to Spectral which contains amazing bass fills, and highly audible bass lines, but thats not really much of an issue for guitarists, vocalists, keyboardists, and drummers.
In Summary Mind Revolution is a must have for any metal head. and allot can be learned from their combination of classical music, death-metal, black-metal, and power-metal. So do what ever you can to get it, even though it is impossible to find in your average c.d. store, and will never be on I-tunes.
