Legend Of The Forgotten Reign Chapter 3 - The Way Of The Light

The genre of epic, speedy and symphonic power metal has pretty much been dominated by bands like Rhapsody and Skylark up to this point. Labyrinth have also dabbled with the speedy symphonic sound and relative newcomers Fairyland, really surprised us all with the quality of their debut album Of Wars In Osyrhia. Italy’s Kaledon have always been somewhat of a fringe band up until now. Playing the same sort of epic fantasy based speedy, symphonic power metal as bands like Rhapsody and Skylark, Kaledon has finally delivered the kind of album with Legend Of The Forgotten Reign – Chapter 3 – The Way Of The Light that should propel them into the ranks of some of the best in the genre. Under the direction of the band’s mastermind Alex Mele, their new album continues the six-part Legend Of The Forgotten Reign saga that takes place in England in the 1300’s. The ongoing battle between two heirs to the throne of England provides the basis for the entire four-part story and involves epic battles, treachery, deceit, betrayal and just about everything that you would expect from such a saga.

The story-like atmosphere of each of their albums draws the listener into the fictitious land of Kaledon and you can really appreciate the time and effort that must be put into each one of their albums. The Way Of The Light received a major boost in sound due to the guest appearance of Stratovarius drummer Jorg Michael who plays drums on the entire album. His relentless, strong and hammering double bass style propels every single track and his huge drum sound along with major improvements in songwriting, song arrangements, production and especially the vocals of Claudio Conti are going to propel Kaledon into the mainstream of the speedy, epic power metal genre.

Just like many other speedy power metal bands that are starting to mix up the tempos of their songs a little more to avoid the monotony that some power metal brings to the listener, Kaledon has followed suit. The opening track Inexorable Light uses march-like as well as chunky and heavy riffs mixed with speedy interludes to create a great mix of tempos for the song. The track The Lord Of The Sand also mixes up tempos with chunky thrash metal style riffs and quiet, reflective interludes. The speedy style is not forgotten with tracks like The Glory Starts, Mighty Son Of The Great Lord, Break The Chant, Sword On The Shoulder and Great Night In The Land all providing healthy doses of speed and melody. Big harmonized Gamma Ray style choruses on tracks like The Glory Starts and Mighty Son Of The Great Lord really show the newfound strength and power that Claudio Conti has with his voice. His voice soars with the track In The Eyes Of The Queen; a track that you won’t be able to get out of your head!! Easily his best vocal performance so far on any Kaledon album, it also gets my vote as best Kaledon song ever!! The title track The Way Of The Light, again shows the immense improvements in strength and delivery of Claudio’s voice. With a great mixing of harmonized voices over pipe organ effects, his voice fits the mood of the track perfectly. More charging power metal can be found with tracks like The Hidden Ways and Vultures In The Air which also features galloping riffs mixed with a solid keyboard orchestrated sound.

The album contains a couple of instrumental tracks with The Angel showing Alex Mele’s fondness for Queen material as he mixes some very Brian May styled expressive guitar orchestrations and harmonies for a great atmospheric effect. Black Telepathy uses speedy pull-off riffs, harmonized leads and expressive soloing, all accompanied by Jorg Micheal’s hammering double bass drum attack. Guest vocalist Lara Bertoli provides vocals for Come With Me and her duet with Claudio over a more mid-tempo and orchestrated ballad style track works very well.

Never one to take the easy route, Kaledon began their career writing complex epic fantasy styled power metal. Obvious comparisons to bands like Rhapsody are only going to significantly raise the bar for any band trying to compete in the same genre. Kaledon has shown immense improvement over previous albums with The Way Of The Light being unquestionably their best effort yet. The shortcomings that may have plagued previous albums have all but disappeared. The Way Of The Light has many great songs, rich, layered choruses and just the right mix of speediness and heaviness that make for a great album. The fierceness of Jorg Michael’s drumming combined with lots of great riffs, great song writing and the strong and soaring voice of Claudio Conti have all come together to produce Kaledon’s finest hour. If this album is any indication of what this band is capable of, prepare yourself for a masterpiece with the next installment Part 4, due sometime next year.