Minuetum - Haunted Spirit

\r\nMinuetum was formed in 2007 by Dimitris Melidis (keyboards) and Dimitris Zaharopoulos (vocals) and in 2008 they released their first demo, while their new cd will be in stores on 2 of July. Haunted Spirit’s line up will include also Jason Mercury (x- Outloud) on guitars, Nacho Lopez (Lord Kraven) on bass and Nick Parotides on drums.The mixing/mastering process was undertaken by Timo Tolki (ex-Stratovarius, Revolution Renaissance) and for the production responsible was Bob Katsionis. This release is a typical sample of, the so-called, Europower metal, including,mainly, elements of Stratovarius and (early) Edguy.
\r\nKeyboard melodies are playing the main role, while the guitars fill the compositions, in a very clever minimalistic way and by the time their solo part comes, they show how melody and virtuosity can be combined. The production of the album and the overall sound are in a very good level, nothing extraordinary,    yet a professional typical power metal one, but what else could you expect, but a "fair" result, by two experienced guys, like Timo and Bob? Some thoughts of bad balance, among the instruments, at the final mix crossed my mind, (especially solo guitars in some parts seem too loud) but maybe it’s a matter of personal taste and they don’t ruin the, overall good, sounding result.
\r\nWhat ruins it, is by all means, the vocals and their melodic lines. Ok we don’t deal with nothing new, innovative or extremely inspired here, but at least the performance of the band (excluding the singer), is in a more than average level. It’s a pity because the singer instead of getting the good compositions to a higher level, he brings them completely down, with his lack of expression, his poor voice and his even poorer pronunciation. Moreover the vocal lines are non-interesting, sometimes childish and even the help of the female ones is pointless.
\r\nIn my opinion, with the right guidance and changes, Minuetum can become a hope for the future, but for now, only if you are a die-hard fan of Euro-power metal bands, you may find something interesting here.\r\n

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\r\nJohny "L.O.V.E. Machine" Litinakis \r\n

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\r\nAlbum line Up:
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\r\nDimitris Zacharopoulos - Vocals
\r\nDimitris Melidis - Keyboards
\r\nJason Mercury - Guitars
\r\nIgnacio Lopez - Bass
\r\nNick Parotidis - Drums \r\n

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\r\nguest on guitar solos:Bob Katsionis (Firewind, Outloud)
\r\nIro Kalligeri - Backing Vocals \r\n

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