An ambitious cd from this German melodic, power metal band ‘13th Room’ benefits from performances from ‘Peavy’ Wagner (Rage), ‘Zagan (Black messiah) the Voice from the past choir and many more. All the more impressive, ‘13th room’ is the band’s debut CD and it combines a good deal of classic heavy metal influences in to one appealing package.
‘13th Room’ is a concept album with a supernatural theme. There’s plenty of catchy riffs, energetic drumming and some melodic solos to get your teeth into. The guest vocals by Cassaia add a haunting, feminine touch whilst Michael Wagner from Rage guests on two tracks and, elsewhere, there are some frenetic solos by Michael Bormann, yet another guest.
Overall it’s a well-constructed CD, that benefits from classical influences, good tempo changes and a dramatic feel that keeps the listener hooked. Unlike some bands, the added keyboards, cello and violin parts fit into the cd well and there’s a strong sense that the band worked hard at their sound rather than rushing into the studio. This also explains how a relatively new band were able to attract so many impressive guests to the recording.
The stand out tracks for me were ‘The Voyager’, ‘Divinit’s End’ and ‘Starless Night’, the latter of which has good riffs and solos. Ultimately, ‘13th room’ is a good example of its genre and a thoroughly enjoyable listen.
Review by Chris Greenwood
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