Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

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Band
Dark Moor
Title
Ancestral Romance
Type
LP/EP
Company
Scarlet
YOR
2010
Style
Power
1/6/2011 - Review by: Anthony Burke

Dark Moor
Ancestral Romance

Company: Scarlet Records
Release: 2010
Genre: Power
Reviewer: IcedMojo

  • Simplicity is the key ingredient missing to make this another stellar release



  • Ancestral Romance is the eighth full-length album by the Spanish symphonic power metal band Dark Moor. Fans of the earlier albums and vocal styling of Elisa Martin (Sabatan, Fairyland, Dreamaker, Ebony Ark, Hamka) are in for a bit of a shock. However, long time fans of the group have become very familiar with what Alfred Romero brings to the table. Along with guest vocalist Berenice Musa (opera/choir), Dark Moor dove deeper in their symphonic sound than ever before, offering a history lesson about their native Spain in the process.

    From the very beginning, I had wondered what I got myself into. Had the group finally sank after all these years--12 to be precise? Just when you thought hope was slipping away, the opener suddenly transitioned in to power driven forcefulness. The tracks Alaric De Marnac, Just Rock (even with the 80s arena rock feel) and Ah! Wretched Me stayed on pace with the power this album started with. It was the rest of the album that was lackluster at best. Even the ballads didn't fit this album, The Spanish speaking part and Spanish guitar in the song Mio Cid, although a very nice touch, couldn't save the song.

    Fans of the power of Dark Moor might leave this one alone. However, if you like music that sometimes sounds as if it belongs on a drama stage, not a metal album, then you may enjoy this. I am in the first category, yet I don't think this is a terrible release. They simply tried too hard to tell a story and in doing so it became too elaborate and overdone. Simplicity is the key ingredient missing to make this another stellar release.


    • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
      3 :AVE RATING

    ALL REVIEWS FOR: DARK MOOR
    TITLE
    DOR
    COMPANY
    REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
    Ancestral Romance
    2010
    Scarlet
    Anthony Burke1/6/2011
    3
    Between Light and Darkness
    2003
    Arise
    Frank Hill5/22/2003
    4
    Beyond The Sea
    2005
    Arise
    Anthony Burke3/4/2005
    -
    Dark Moor
    2004
    Arise
    Frank Hill4/14/2004
    3.5

    ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: DARK MOOR
    INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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