Band:	Ivory Moon
Album:	Human Nature
Style:	Symphonic power metal
Release date:	2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. Crimson Horizon
02. In The Deep Forest
03. Wasted Time
04. Reign Of Time
05. Clown In The Mirror
06. Golgota
07. The Second King
08. Through Different Eyes
09. Phantom Ship
10. Overflow
11. The Journey

'Human Nature' is the second album from Ivory Moon, an Italian combo who claims that they play Symphonic Epic Metal. Well, to sum up, Ivory Moon is unfortunately only a new combo of Symphonic Power Metal with female vocals. The thing is that we're near of the point of saturation with this kind of music and this album, which is not so well inspired, will not be the sesame which will save this trendy musical style. The fans of the genre will maybe find something in this release but everyone else will simply find that it's just a new (and that's probably already too much) CD in the genre...

I'm sorry to say it, but really there is not a lot of interest in 'Human Nature'. The thing is that the album is not so horrible, without being wonderful either, but it's so cliché and unoriginal that it's quickly boring. It's simple, you have all the ingredients that you were able to find in the first Nightwish album (plus a male vocalist). The epic choruses are here, the keyboards are the leading instrument of the compositions, the drums produce pure Power Metal rhythms and yes, you have a girl who sings with a symphonic voice... It could be ok if the compositions were great but, while they're not horrible at least, they're really average and I didn't find a song which clearly caught my attention. Really, I tried to listening to the whole album many times but the songs are just dull and clearly lack imagination, there is nothing magical here. Human Nature is just an average album of Symphonic Power Metal and it really lacks originality and personality and those are the factors that will probably kill it...

The production of the album is also not so great. For me the sound is a bit too loud and the guitars are a bit too powerful. The voice of Cecilia Serra and Sandro Manicone are ok but not wonderful either. No really, Human Nature is not the worst album of the year but it's so lifeless that it will become boring quite quickly... Ivory Moon doesn't seem to be a bad band, I think that they are able to do better music but it's not with such a release that they will be able to prove it. I hope that the band will quickly react if they don't want to disappear into the abyss...

You see, when you just follow a trend it's extremely hard to convince people. Some of them (we will call them sheep) will still find a way to enjoy such releases but if you have a bit of personality and good tastes, you shouldn't be fooled. It's sad because Ivory Moon can do something better, I'm sure of it but Human Nature is unfortunately a forgettable album... The fact that a band tries to play the same music as Nightwish will not be a salvation. So please next time add a bit of personality to your music, please wake up!