Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Eternal Flight “Positive Rage” Cruz Del Sure Music 2004 --Ken Pierce

Track Listing1. The Masks Will Fall 2. Guardians 3. All We Are 4. New World 5. Real 6. Secret Place 7. Beyond (The Golden Gates) 8. Prelude (Death Is Not The End) 9. Back Into The Light (Renaissance) 10. Morphoenix 11. The Moon King

The second that I placed this CD in the changer I was reminded of the first Dream Theater album “When Dream And Day Unite”. Since I really enjoyed that piece of “forgotten metal (as not many Dream Theater fans choose to recognize it), I knew this would not be a bad listen. The band comes to us out of France, and I was surprised for the Country is not known for power or progressive metal as much as Finland or Sweden are. There are some very good hooks on this CD, and the fans of the genre will be happy that nothing is lost in the area of technical ability. Everyone in the group plays their instruments very well, and the singer has a truly passionate voice that is very similar to a younger Geoff Tate. Never a bad comparison.

Among the highlights of the CD are the opening track “The Masks Will Fall”, and “All We Are” (not a remake of the popular Warlock track), and “Beyond The Golden Gates”. The production is clean, but I felt as if the drums could have used a little bringing more to the front than they received. There are so many of those early Theater hooks, so I am thinking the group had them as a big influence. It seems as though Progressive Metal is overtaking itself sometimes. With stalwarts such as Sonata Arctica and company continuing to raise the banner, it is a little difficult to find much originality in every single track nowadays. The Lads from France do succeed in delivering a solid metal record nonetheless.

The lineup for the CD is as follows: Sebastien Vibert (keyboards), Nicholas Jean Pierre (Bass), Gerard Fois (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), Christophe Offredi (Guitars), and Alexandre Stellini (Drums). I was not provided a lyric book, and am not sure the CD comes with one. However, the cover artwork of a triumphant Eagle character is quite impressive. I believe this is the “Morphoenix” that one of the tunes sings of. Take a visit to their website and download some samples, you might enjoy them if you are a fan of this genre.

Rating: 7/10

Eternal Flight Site: http://www.eternalflight.fr.st/


--Ken Pierce 01.25.05
Eternal Flight - Positive Rage 2004 Cruz Del Sur Music reviewed by: EC

Track Listing1. The Masks will fall 2. guardians 3. All we are 4. New world 5. Real 6. Secret place 7. Beyond (the golden gates) 8. Prelude (-ath is not the end) 9. Back into the light (Renaissance) 10. Morphoenix 11. The moon king

Sometimes you just stumbe across those bands that seem like they have the look and sound that you are searching for. You know, the bands that have the really great album covers, the metallic logo, and that sure fire image that will surely rule your speakers once you get the album into the closest set of speakers. I guess that is the feeling I had for Eternal Flight, a new band from France that have released their debut record, "Positive Rage", through Cruz Del Sur Music. One look at the album cover will get you excited, easily one of the best jackets of the year. Research shows the album cover is done by Geoffrey Gillespie, who has done a lot of work for Doro and Warlock. Once you get past the glorious artwork, well it is just more of the same.

Eternal Flight was created after the break-up of Dream Child, a much talked about power metal band that saw three albums released before their split. The band's mastermind, Gérard Fois, created his new brainchild, Eternal Flight, after his departure from Dream Child. Now "Positive Rage" is unveiled, an album that is much in the same vein as Fois' previous band. Is that a good thing? To my ears it isn't, with my senses more customized for bigger, epic power metal. I like my sound a little stronger and over the top, while Eternal Flight is more in line with light, friendly melody and soft vocal lines. I certainly don't buy into the light hearted stuff, but to someone who is into the Masterplans of the world, then this is a worthy find.

Fois has a great metal voice, and even hits some high falsetto on this record, but for the most part he seems to be complacent with his low-keyed delivery, just going through the motions. Each track seems to have some good parts, but for a majority of the songs, the music just falls flat. Guitarist Christophe Offredi does a decent job here with what he has to work with, but his playing really doesn't have any kind of pattern. When the songs seem suitable for a nice bridge or chorus part, the band just goes on another tangent, never stopping for much ear candy.

Comparisons could be made to Easy Rider or Stormhammer, with heavy progressive metal the obvious fit. The band enlists a full time keyboard player, but thankfully the keyboards aren't a driving force here. They are way back in the mix and at times barely noticable. For fans of Dream Child, Easy Rider, Angra, and even Shadow Gallery, this is your kind of metal. The main ingredients with this concoction are soft vocals and melody, mid-tempo speed, and a very light delivery. For someone like myself who enjoys a good traditional power metal opus, then Eternal Flight falls well short of the mark.


--EC 10.22.04