Band:	Heavenly
Album:	Virus
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	September 21, 2006
A review by:	Jeff

01. The Dark Memories
02. Spill Blood On Fire
03. Virus
04. The Power & Fury
05. Wasted Time
06. Bravery In The Field
07. Liberty
08. When The Rain Begins To Fall [Jermaine Jackson And Pia Zadora cover]
09. The Prince Of The World
10. The Joker [Japanese bonus]
11. Spill Blood On Fire [Japanese version] [Japanese bonus]

Virus is already the 4th album of the French Heavy/Power Metal band from France, Heavenly. Their two previous albums were famous successes in Japan and yes, they also got some positive words across Europe and France even if I cannot say that Heavenly never reached the recognition point of Manigance or Adagio. But it should change, at least I hope so, because without a doubt "Virus" is their best production.

I remember the three previous albums of the band, it was good powerful Heavy Metal on a side. Really Heavenly found the way to produce three first good albums. But to be honest I don't consider them unforgettable albums (one more time I'm not saying that they were bad but?). With "Virus", it will probably be different, because for sure if we still have good music we also have this time pure hits. I don't know if it's coming from the new members but I think that we have some real strong musical performances now and the songs are not only catchy, they have power and great melodies that will stay for good in your heads.

"The Dark Memories" or "Spill Blood on Fire" for example are two classy songs, which mix the melodies of Heavy Metal and the blasts of Power with a lot of ability . Plus, at times, it sounds a bit like the last Adagio; we're not so far away from Progressive Metal. The Keyboards or the fast technical Guitars soli are really complex and not so basic. The performance of the singer is really good so obviously if you add all those different points together you can only get a really good album.

The production is also really good, the demonic artwork is really nice and you'll (a bit like with Adagio one more time) have the luck to listen to a really good and funny cover of the 80's Hit "When the Rain Begins to Fall". "Virus" is full of good things, the production work was done by Philip Colodetti and Mika Jussila but you'll also be able to find three guests: Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica), Tanja of Lullacry and Kevin Codfert (Adagio)? Nice right? Heavenly found a way to release an album that will probably launch their career on the "starway" (at least in Europe).

More direct but more complex too, "Virus" is THE album that was missing in the discography of the French combo. If you liked the band or not but if you just like good Heavy Metal and want to listen to nice catchy songs, I really recommend to buy this new album. "Virus" is without a doubt the best album of the French combo and I'm sure that a lot of people will remember this great musical performance. A must?