Band:	Kiuas
Album:	Reformation
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	May 24, 2006
Guest review by:	Talvi

01. Race With The Falcons
02. Through The Ice Age
03. The New Chapter
04. Of Ancient Wounds
05. Child Of Cimmeria
06. Black Winged Goddess
07. Heart Of The Serpent
08. Bleeding Strings
09. Call Of The Horns
10. Reformation
11. Hunting Girl [Jethro Tull cover] [Japanese bonus]

Sick of the same power metal bands? Clones like Freedom Call (Gamma Ray), Persuader (Blind Guardian) and the like? Enter Kiuas, the pagan warriors!

Kiuas, a young and original power metal band from Finland has made their second album. Now, what's going wrong? Yes, original, power and from Finland. Amazing, huh?

Kiuas is so different from bands like Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica... First the guitar. Kiuas has real power. It's very strong and crunchy. So much, it doesn't look like power, but thrash or death. In fact, Kiuas can't be described as only power metal. They have influences from almost any other metal genre. Mostly folk/viking. Some thrashy riffs there, blast beats here... "Black Winged Goddess," for example, has a black metal feeling on it. And the bonus track is a Jethro Tull cover that sounds like 100xheavier.

Oh, and the vocalist. Don't expect pitched vocals like in Sonata Arctica. The vocals are quite unique, at least for power. Rough, raspy and evil, yet still melodic. And he even knows how to growl too. Then, the keyboards. Instead of the over-soloing and trying to compete with the guitar, here keyboards are better used. They just add another layer on the music. I'd say they add the beauty in a so heavy music. Amazing.

Now, we knew all these from the debut, which is better. First, it's not so worse, even I recommend it first. But this is more different. It's like they try to evade more from typical power and add a special feeling to each song. Yes, they succeed. Why the lower score? Because they aren't so fresh and catchy, like some melodies are forced. No, their songs aren't bad, and there isn't any filler. But it's not the instant classic their debut is (at least for me). The first four tracks are their most catchy, and "Bleeding Strings" is their best ballad, maybe the best track on the album.

So, if you want some good and different power with real power, get this now (after the debut, of course).