Independent Release
Review by Tony Cannella
From Austria, the band Ecliptica formed in 2003 and features the duel male/female vocals of Sandra Urbanek and Tom Tieber. On their 4th full-length release, “Journey Saturnine”, the band offers up a strong mix of heavy metal and hard rock.
The intro “Saturn’s Theme” leads into “Journey Saturnine”. After that we have crunchy riffs of “Fire! Burn!”. The guitar riff is quite infectious all the way through and the chorus reminds me a bit of Blind Guardian. This is one of the heavier songs and features a good amount of input from Sandra Urbanek. Male vocalist Tom Tieber has a gravelly vocal style and he handles the bulk of the vocals but Sandra does a good job when she is called upon. Sandra has a style that is at times raspy and at others angelic. Ecliptica goes from the pounding metal of “Fire! Burn!” to the beautifully melodic “Love & Misery” – this is simply one of the highlights for me. The songs on “Journey Saturnine” have a lot of melody and a definite 80s influence – which is never a bad thing – in my opinion. “Kingdom of Heaven” quickly became another favorite. This song is a little different from the others because it adds death grunts – for that reason, it stands out. Other high points for me were: “Blackened Day”, “Condition Crestfallen” and “Attitude”. “Journey Saturnine” is 12-songs and 47-minutes worth of catchy and infectious hard rock and heavy metal. After plugging away for a few albums, “Journey Saturnine” may be the album that elevates Ecliptica’s status in the world of heavy metal.
Rating – 75/100
Tracklist
- Saturn’s Theme
- Journey Saturnine
- Fire! Burn!
- Love & Misery
- Dreamland
- Blackened Day
- Ready For A Ride
- Kingdom of Heaven
- The Shadow
- Condition Crestfallen
- Attitude
- Without You
Line Up
- Sandra Urbanek – Vocals
- Tom Tieber – Vocals
- Alen Duricic – Guitars
- Markus Winkler – Guitars
- Alexander Basstard – Bass
- Roman Daucher – Drums