Rising Faith - The Arrival
Limb Music Products
Power Metal
13 songs (48'43)
Release year: 2003
Limb Music Products
Reviewed by Ben
Surprise of the month

I have been following Rising Faith’s career for awhile now. I remember way back in 2000 I heard their Demo 99 release and I thought to myself, “These guys have talent but they need to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack somehow.” Well, with their debut album The Arrival, Rising Faith have found their own sound and have created an album that gives the Power Metal scene the swift kick in the ass it deserves.

The most obvious difference from Demo 99 and The Arrival is the much darker and heavier tone to the songs. Instead of happy Power Metal, we are treated with a dark energy with melodic passages swirling about the anger. With a heavy dual guitar attack much akin to a meatier Judas Priest, songs like Final Day come to life with such an urgent energy you cannot resist headbanging. Another facet of the band that has undergone much improvement is the vocalist, Kristian Wallin. Back in the day, he had a good voice, but you could tell on some parts there was straining and back then it just didn’t have FORCE, it didn’t blow you away with power. Well, it only took until the third track (second real song, there’s the obligatory intro song on The Arrival) for me to realize that Kristian has done some MAJOR work on his voice and it is truly remarkable to hear. Just listen to the high passages on Head of the Anvil, the way he belts out, “I WILL FIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHHT!” just fills me with metal pride. The band also have no shortages in catchy hooks either, each song is filled with them using both the guitars and the vocals to create said hooks. The Inner Truth has one of the catchiest chorus’ I have heard in a long time and was made for blasting loud and proud, and Imaginations has some killer guitar lines that make the song into a godly anthem.

Now, with all my praising of The Arrival I’m sure that some of you are going, “C’mon Ben there has to be something wrong with it.” Well, in truth there are a few minor things but no glaring flaws on this gem. Only two songs do not really stand out and one of them is the opener, which is a shame cos some people won’t give it another chance considering that’s the first song they’ll hear. But still, that is two songs out of thirteen, which isn’t bad at all considering the rest of the songs kick all sorts of ass. Production is crystal clear and I cannot complain about it one bit. Each instrument is defined, each note, each crunch is clearly heard so that is very excellent for the band, as some people put out killer cds musically, but the production is so thin and shitty that it kills any enjoyment one might have once had listening to em. I personally love Kristian’s voice, partly because I can tell the vast improvement that he has undergone and another reason is because he sings with a driving passion that one HAS to admire. I will admit however that he does not have the most “original” voice per se, (Ralf Scheepers, Andi Deris, David Defeis, guys like that, where you can tell its them from a mile away) but what he does have is a great set of pipes that without which, the music would be sorely lacking.

So, as you can see The Arrival is a definite purchase for Power Metal fans. Even people who think Power Metal is too “gay and happy” would probably enjoy this disc because on many songs, if the tempo was sped up just a little bit, then it would be a thrash song. In the end, Rising Faith avoids all the clichés and delivers a true, honest, Power Metal album with The Arrival and I am very satisfied with the result. Congratulations!

Killing Songs :
The Inner Truth, The Head of the Anvil, Imaginations and Marching On
Ben quoted 84 / 100
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