Band:	Altaria
Album:	The Fallen Empire
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	March 24, 2006
A review by:	Jeff

01. Disciples
02. Valley Of Rainbows
03. Abyss Of Twilight
04. Frozen Hearts
05. Crucifix
06. Showdown
07. The Lion
08. Outlaw Blood
09. Chosen One
10. Access Denied
11. The Dying Flame [European bonus]
12. Metality [Japanese bonus]

I remember back in 2004 that a lot of people said a lot of good things about the second album of Altaria, the Finish Power Metal band. After the friendly departure of Jani Liimatainen (now entirely with Sonata Arctica) the band chose J-P Alanen (Ex: Celesty) to replace him. It probably has some consequences on the music of the band, "The Fallen Empire" is definitely more into Melodic Heavy than Power and well it's probably not a bad thing (at least for me).

I know that some of you will miss the energy that we got on "Divinity". That's right, "The Fallen Empire" is a lot more into Melodic Heavy Metal now. At the end a lot of the songs have some mid-tempos rhythms, and on a side, yes, it lacks a bit of Power. But on the other hand, I think that it is maybe not a bad change. I mean that a lot of bands play Power nowadays so some differentiations in the music of Altaria is more than welcome and it's a good way to show that they can have a bit of personality.

Don't expect however to have something outstandingly new and original. Like 99% of the Finnish bands, Altaria plays music that doesn't avoid to use the "Finnish sound". It's evidently super melodic and catchy and? sounds like Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius? But the performance of the musicians, especially the one of the singer Taage Laiho (Alexi's brother), is really good. No doubt that Altaria is a good band and a song like "Chosen One" with its slow but nice melody, or "Valley Of Rainbows" a good old melodic Heavy/Hard Rock track, are nice songs. At the end really this album only lacks of originality but at least, they knew how to change a bit their music, and that's a good thing in my opinion.

Some fans will be a bit disappointed I think, but some others will probably agree with me to say that "The Fallen Empire" is a correct album of Heavy Metal. Altaria could even do something really great in the future if they just want to take some risks. That's up to the band, but at least for now, if you like Melodic Heavy Metal that sounds "Finnish", you can go for this one without any hesitations.