Escape Music/Border
ILIUM is an Aussie band, a power metal outfit from Newcastle, and outspoken guardians of classic heavy metal in the vein of IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and BLACK SABBATH. First known as ILIAD back in 1998, they now have four releases under their belt. Since their orevious release, “Ageless Decay”, the vocal spot has been filled by no other than Mike DiMeo, RIOT and ex. MASTERPLAN. These eleven songs have been treated well by Swedish pro mixer Martin Kronlund, and the sci-fi style is…unmistaken when you see the cover.
But as opener “Kinaestesia” fills my headphones I start to wonder. The trigged drums, the ok but not outstanding song in itself, the good pace but not quite opener material, how will this end? I may add that my fears were not all that imminent. I still think there are about four quite average and genre-typical songs on offer here, most of them towards the end. But there are also a couple of sweaty future live favorites in the shape of the steaming title track, the atmospheric “Hostile Sky”, and the keyboard-laden “Ghosts in Flesh”. If the album had followed the outline set by tracks two to seven, then we would have had a classic in the making. But there is such a thing as Monday in the office (studio) too, which is evident in unimaginative but alright songs like the opener and the exotic but altogether un-dramatic closing track “Irrinja”. I still think that Mike DiMeo is one of the best young-ish vocalists around, I just hope that Mark Reale and the rest of RIOT serves him a song material a cut above this.
Track List
Kinaesthesia
Littoria
Grey Stains the Rainbow
The Immortality Gene
Ephemeral
Genetic Memory
Hostile Sky
Fevered Tongue
Neanderthal Within
Ghosts in Flesh
Irrinja
www.escape-music.com www.myspace.com/iliummetal
