This new album, Ai is the third release from Seraphim based out of Taiwan. The album was recorded in both Chinese and English with the English version coming out this summer. Reviewing an album with vocals sung in Chinese proved to be a difficult task for me at first but when it comes down to it, vocal melodies are vocal melodies, no matter what language they are sung in. This album follows the same sort of formula as their last album, The Equal Spirit but it has a bigger, richer and more intense sound. The Nightwish similarities are still there with the operatic soprano voice of Pay Lee, but Seraphim is a more guitar-heavy and riff driven band. The production is amazingly clear and heavy and with a booklet that has wonderful graphics, lyrics in both English and Chinese, Seraphim has put together a nice package for the listener.

The overall sound of Seraphim is a mix of Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica and Edguy as far as melody and speediness; Nightwish for the operatic style and overtones of the Manylion era of The Gathering. Pay Lee's soprano voice sounds wonderful on this album. I sensed a certain air of insecurity in her voice on the last album but she absolutely soars on this one. Every inch of this album is an amazing listening experience. It has a great thick heavy sound with soaring guitar melodies and Queen-like guitar orchestrations. The attention to detail in the melodies, complex arrangements and production of this album is staggering....I wish all CDs could sound like this!! Several stand out for me for various reasons namely Tears, with it's ultra speedy Euro power metal style and crunching heavy riffs. Implementation uses both Pay's operatic vocals and some death style screams and scowls provided by the bass player, Jax. Solid vocal melodies, great expressive leads and riffs are all propelled by a backing track that's reminiscent of Spreading The Disease by Queensryche. The best track for me is the song My. Clean male vocals in duet with Pay build into a solid mid-tempo heavy track with wonderful angelic choruses and beautiful melodic guitar interludes. This is the best track I've ever heard from this band....a stunning piece of work!! Alone is a cool mid-tempo instrumental with nice harmonized leads and wild double bass flurries that allow for a little self-indulgence by the band. Before, Like the track My, is another example of a perfectly arranged song that uses speedy passages for Pay's vocals and plodding heavy parts for the death style of Jax's voice. The mix of tempos creates a great mood and the riffs just seem to leap off of Pay's voice. The amazing soprano voice of Pay is highlighted on the track Is That? A haunting and beautiful song, it uses a blend of acoustic guitars to set the mood for Pay's voice and results in a very moving track.

Lots of speedy power metal styles permeate this album but it's not overdone. I mentioned before in my review of The Equal Spririt that the death style vocals seems out of place in this band's music. Although they worked on a couple of songs on this album, I still feel that the band would be better off using normal male vocals in duet with Pay and not the evil scowl that Jax uses. It may be an attempt to add variety to the music but I personally don't think it works all that well for this band. Musically, they are as solid as you're ever going to hear in a power metal band and this album is an immense improvement over their last one. I mentioned that this album is a "listening experience" and I mean that in a sense that you're in awe of what you hear while listening to it but only a few tracks really leave a lasting impression. Pay's vocals tend to sound all the same after a while and maybe this explains the use of death style vocals as well. Continued growth in the songwriting aspects as witnessed here over the last album is just what this band needs. Regardless, a truly wonderful listening experience and I can't wait to get the English version of this to see what in fact the songs are all about!!! The fact that I can get this sort of vibe from an album sung entirely in a language I don't understand, is testament to the high quality of Seraphim's music.