Heavenly - Sign Of The Winner (2001)

Heavenly's second album is a fine power metal release, of which I have slight reservations, mainly to do with Ben Sotto's singing. Talk about over the top. Yes, I know, heavy metal screaming is nothing new, and maybe I've been listening to too many more... er... calm vocals lately, but I think the problem is more than just his hysterics. At times, he almost tries so hard, his voice starts to disappear and get drowned out by everything else.
And there's a lot going on during these consistently fast, sometimes very melodious numbers as they sing about such things as being kidnapped by aliens ("Destiny"), looking after the Earth ("The World Will Be Better"), facing death (both "Condemned To Die", and it's follow up, "The Angel"), mankind of the future fighting machines ("Still Believe"), facing life positively ("Words Of Change") and the lamenting of war (the concluding "Until The End").
It's hard to get bored with it all, as everything is done so well, and is undeniably infectious.  If only the vocal side of things was a bit more stable.

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