Band:	Axxis
Album:	Paradise In Flames
Style:	Heavy metal, Power metal
Release date:	January 20, 2006
A review by:	Jeff

01. Paradise In Flames
02. Dance With The Dead
03. Tales Of Glory Island
04. Take My Hand
05. Will God Remember Me
06. Talisman
07. Don't Leave Me
08. Lady Moon
09. Ice Wind
10. Stay By Me
11. Gods Of Rain
12. Passion For Rock
13. Break Your Soul [bonus]
14. Tales Of Glory Island (Extended Version) [bonus]
+ Screensaver
+ Video (The making of Paradise In Flames)

Even after 16 years of music in the scene, Axxis is still alive and back with a new album "Paradise In Flames" through the big German label AFM Records. Their career is actually weird, Axxis is not a bad band but let's be honest they never produced something amazing and even with that, they've always been signed on a lot of big labels, and my conclusion is that they probably have a good bunch of fans, especially in Germany.

But how is this "Paradise In Flames"? Well not so bad actually, especially if you like Heavy, Power and melodic Hard Rock. The songs, like "Dance With The Dead", are catchy and the little touches of symphonic spirit and female vocals for the choruses are not so bad. Yes, it's not really complex but for sure, at least, it's effective.

On the other hand this album doesn't (cannot?) avoid all the clichés of the genre. I mean that it is basic as hell and we probably already had 10000 others similar releases in the past. So yes, this kind of Metal is not awful and I can understand that some people, who don't want something really innovating, can enjoy this kind of releases but personally after 3 listening, I'm already bored. This is not bad, the musicians aren't bad but it's just unoriginal as hell?

On the other hand musically speaking, the guys of Axxis are good, especially Bernhard Weiss, who is not the best singer on Earth but who has a really special Heavy voice. Though the guitarist Guido Wehmeyer is able to do nice soli. Add those points with a perfect production (the mark of the AFM Records bands) made in Germany and you can understand that "Paradise In Flames" is not mistake, it's just a bit average in comparison of all the others Heavy releases that we can find nowadays.

So at the end, I cannot say that the fans will be disappointed, "Paradise In Flames" is probably one of the best releases of the German combo but yes, when you see all the others release of Heavy Metal, it's clearly a bit more average. There is nothing new with this album, it's ok but it's also possible to find a lot of better ones nowadays. Some songs are really good however so if you like Melodic Heavy and Hard Rock, you can try it and you'll be able to have your own opinion.