Since their inception in 1999, Melbourne based Anarion have released two albums, a self release ‘The Journey Begins...’ and most recently ‘Unbroken’ which came out through Majestic Rock Records in early 2006. The band had their share of lineup problems throughout their young history most notably of which was the departure of Danny Cecati (Eyefear, ex-Pegazus) and Steve Stergiadis who provided some of the most diverse solos ever recorded on ‘Unbroken’. The four man band is lead by the axeman and vocalist Riccardo Mecchi whose soaring voice can be described as a cross between Bruce Dickinson, Tim Owens and Tim Roth (Into Eternity).

The album is relatively short, lasting just about forty five minutes (fifty if you count the bonus track found on Japanese version), but manages to pack plenty of twin guitar solo brutality, fantastic bass drumming and even couple of beautifully crafted acoustic ballads as well. They are played mostly by Riccardo whose deep voice reminds me of Bruce Dickinson for the most part. In fact, I dare say the band draws influences from a broad spectrum of music (traces of Spanish guitar melody in one of the ballads – nice touch). ‘Blind Mortality’ reminds me of Into Eternity somewhat thanks to a hypnotic rhythm section which develops into a solo and in turn becomes one of the stand out melodies of the album. Also the vocal delivery has both clean and screaming parts, particularly Riccs clean voice which gets stretched to give that Into Eternity character. However having said that it is a rather difficult task, I find, to accurately label this release as each song has something different to offer. I believe it would be wrong to just label them as melodic metallers. It is clear the band can play both thrashier riffs as well as shred more aggressively as is the case with ‘Greed Of Man’. They can slow it down; play number of well polished solos, acoustic solos and of course the abnormal usage of double, machine-like, drumming throughout.

As a unit, they combine individual skills and interests to give Anarion the An-believable spark. Perhaps the only letdown of this album is the lyrical content. Not all that original and frankly concepts of cheesy battles and unrealistic ‘doomsday’ ends I never found all that tolerable. I suppose the use of voice-overs in tracks is a good touch, especially if the voice is of a well notable contemporary figure and as a result giving that vintage 90s feel to the song. Riccardo does have a unique style of singing and more often than not I get lost just following the booklet for words.

The band is definitely not bound to just playing one type of heavy metal and as they grow I can see them releasing even more diverse albums in the future. The platform is set and future looks very bright should this young band manage to keep the core of their sound in one place. I’ve always thought of Melbourne as capital of Euro-metal talent in Australia and Anarion are a great chance to be the next big name from there. They’ve already toured Japan so let’s continue to give them our support.

Get this album if you’re in need of heavier than normal traditional metal with slashing guitars and extremely lengthy solos with a lot of feeling behind them. RIOT Distributors or the band themselves might have some copies left.

Track Listing:

1. New Eyes, Old Lies
2. Blind Mortality
3. Greed Of Man
4. Live In Me
5. Broken Truths
6. Below
7. Conflicting Self
8. Buried
9. Another Level
10. Over The Wall (Bonus)

Title: Anarion - Unbroken
Category: CD Reviews
Sub-Category: Metal
Author: militia
Related Link: The Official Website
Added: July 6th 2007
Viewed: 98233 Times
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