Jump to content

Arion - Last Of Us


Stefan

Recommended Posts

10382136_459245124210092_141175388334484

 

 

Don't expect this to be the Spanish or the American Arion, this is a new band from Finland playing melodic prog metal.

Debut album out now.

Excellent for a bunch of teenagers (and don't let the image fool you, is that Justin Bieber in the middle?! :lol: )!

 

 

From http://www.chadrschulz.com:

 

Bringing beautiful melodies and a true passion to Power Metal.

Finland’s ARION has unleashed their 2014 début ‘Last Of Us’. A Hard Rock infused Power Prog Metal album filled with sweeping, soulful melodies. Bringing quality Metal to the Commercial Rock masses. At least, if there still was such a thing as “Commercial Rock”–a man’s gotta dream;)

 

Arion.jpg

Upon first spin of ‘Last Of Us’ I did a double take, I thought I had played a new TEN album by mistake. As a huge fan of those UK rockers, I instantly recognized that melodic Hard Rock style in this heavier, Power Metal band. Exploring more, I discovered a Hollywood/Symphonic Metal scope within the Power and Prog. Vast caverns of easily accessible melodic hooks, emotion filled vocals, neo-classical guitars and keys, and forceful, precise rhythm.

 

ARION keeps above the cheese so many other Power/Prog bands wallow in. Lyrical themes with real-world poignancy and genuine emotion. Mostly avoiding all the castles, swords, vikings, wizards, and space goofiness. Vocalist Viljami Holopainen is very atypical for this genre. Able to scream with the best, great range and technique. But he maintains a Hard Rock soul, singing from the heart about profound subjects.

 

I can’t believe these guys are barely out of high-school. They sound like seasoned veterans, with the weight and wisdom that comes from a lifetime of experiences. In addition to Holopainen there’s Guitar virtuoso Iivo Kaipainen, melody maestro Keyboardist Arttu Vauhkonen, with phenomenal, tight rhythms from Gege Velinov on Bass and Topias Kupiainen on Drums. Hopefully, this marks the beginning of a long and successful career.

 

After an obligatory, yet stirring, instrumental intro we storm into the Neo-classical power of “Out of the Ashes”.

 

The melodic “Seven” is a killer Prog Power Hard Rock track full of elaborate keys, guitar virtuosity, soaring vocals, and delicate haunting melodies.

 

Metal fully emerges on “Shadows”. Pounding rhythm, heavy guitars, and aggressive full-range vocals.

 

I can’t find any fault within the soulful piano ballad “You’re My Melody”. An album highlight with a stripped-bare Holopainen and more killer guitar.

 

The Neo-classical “I Am the Storm” incorporates bleeding fast double bass drumming, full-on screaming, and burning guitar histrionics. Everything cranked to 11!

 

The 7-minute Symphonic/Hollywood beast “Burn Your Ship” is aggressive and intricate with varied, crushing vocals (including chorales), more blasting from Kupiainen, and a duel melodic assault from Kaipainen and Vaukhonen.

“Lost” and the more experimental/progressive “Last of Us” are full band, passionate Melodic Hard Metal songs.

Epic closer “Watching You Fall” overpowers with potent riffing and pulverizing rhythm. Modern Prog Metal complete with a quirky, volatile mid-section break.

 

The Japanese edition includes four bonus tracks: The regal Power Metaller “New Dawn”, a truncated/single version of “Shadows”, and beautiful acoustic versions of “Lost” and “Last of Us”. Worth the scratch if you can find it. I ordered mine from cdjapan.co.jp.

 

Often Power/Prog Metal albums wear thin with lots of blur and song-bleed. Amazingly, I didn’t notice any of that with the expertly produced ‘Last Of Us’. Each song is distinct and potent while the diversity keeps things fresh.

Can’t imagine what living in a “Metal heaven” like Finland must be like. ARION’s début ‘Last Of Us’ is exceptional Power/Prog Metal. A band of virtuosos writing and playing powerful, melodic, and soulful music. Kick-ass and Highly Recommended.

 

 

Arion:

Viljami Holopainen - vocals
Iivo Kaipainen - guitars
Arttu Vauhkonen - keyboards
Gege Velinov - bass
Topias Kupiainen - drums

 

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialArion

 

 

Last-Of-Us-Japanese-Edition-cover.jpg

 

Tracks:

 

01. The Passage
02. Out of the Ashes
03. Shadows
04. Seven
05. Last of Us
06. I Am the Storm
07. You're My Melody
08. Burn Your Ship
09. Lost
10. Watching You Fall

 

 

 

 

 

The 'must' ballad:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrMNLBszvzQ

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKY_cd-Q61s

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are quite good. Listened only to the live "Lost" because live tells the true tale and they sound great live.

 

The YouTube comments are terrible, capping on the poor singer cause he isn't pimple faced with greasy hair down to his bottom. He still sings well and I am sure does fine with the ladies. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really good stuff! The ballad was awesome! Such an impressive group of tunes from such an young group!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Justin Bieber was kidnapped by a prog metal band. :lol:

 

Now that sounds like a great idea!! And never to appear again .............. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

The ballad was great and a couple of the others made the ears prick up. Some big choruses going on there, so will check out

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

It's a good, solid album with some good songs, the ballad 'You're My Melody' especially is great (love the solo). I found the whole thing didn't stick we me after a while though, even, so it just missed out on a recommended placing in my end of year list. Definitely a band to watch though

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, sadly I gave it a go today but lost interest around track 6 when I pulled the pin. It's not bad, but I just can't give an album with drumming like this the time of day. Plenty of other bands make melodic music with proper drumming, so I choose not to spend time on this stuff.

 

Good luck to you fans. I guess I can see the appeal - it's definitely melodic in terms of vocals and harmonies in places, but it's definitely not for me overall. It's funny that although the music is kind of "fast" to an extent, and it's pretty heavy which you'd think would keep me on my toes... but I just get really bored listening to this type of stuff. I don't know, it's just how it is. But yeah, to each their own. It'd be boring if we all liked the same stuff. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...
  • My Little Pony

Hmm.... dunno. Completely different voice characteristics from the first vocalist. Much prefer the smoother vocals with this type of music.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU8xxgsLmAM

Yeah, after hearing that, this is very disappointing. Beiber has such a great voice. Why did he leave? Where is he going? I'd be interested to hear more from him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • My Little Pony

Been watching a couple of their videos, and it appears they were fully aware of the Beiber comments, as they called one of their tours "Never Say Never to Metal Tour." Ha!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They recorded demos of some of their old songs with Lassi on vocals.

 

 

 

 

No, no, no. That's it. This band is ruined. I agree with Dan, the 'Bieber' dude had smoother vocals that suited this music much better. With the new vocalist they sound like hundreds of other bands in the same genre.

 

I liked the combination of smooth vocals/heavy riffs. This new outfit I don't like. Maybe I should listen to the final product before completely write them off...

 

Disappointed.

I am.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Posts

    • New album out June 28. Not my style per se, but well executed IMO.  
    • "Still in Love" and "Sweet Melody" by Lancia    
    • I posted about this record store (well, CD store really... it has a fair amount of vinyl, but the focus is CDs) 2 years ago. I go there about once a year, and every single time I do I keep kicking myself to go there more often. Not only for the sheer enjoyment of being able to shop the music genres we love and view all these releases in hand, but because it's so damned overwhelming. There's never time to go through things at leisure, pulling out boxes under racks to rummage, because even flying through things and NOT exploring new artists, it's still 3-4 hours to go through the alphabet... let alone stopping and using their listening station (they'll let you listen to used/opened material, not still sealed merch). It's only an hour and a half drive for me each way, so there's really ZERO excuse for me not going over there more frequently. This time I remembered to take a bunch of pictures, pulling out releases from artists we enjoy just to show what they had in stock... a lot of material you'll never see at any mainstream store (even if there is any that carry CDs anymore). Sure, the prices are more expensive than what you'll pay at Amazon and other online stores, but they're not as bad as you would think, and there are bargains to be had amongst the used material when it comes to OOP discs. And to be fair, being able to view all this stuff in-hand is worth it IMO. (Although every now and then you'll see an OOP disc that is WAAAAAAAY overpriced, but at least they have the odd and unusual.) They have one of those old-school "buyer club" stamp cards, with 20 spaces. One stamp per disc purchased. Every other stamp you get a dollar off, and when you fill a card you get $16.99 off your purchase and then you get a new card. On your birthday, you get $1 off every CD and that's on top of the buyer club card discounts. First the pics from when I was going through the aisles, starting with some general pics. Every single artist has its own title card, so look at the variety and depth of the artists. Also, look at the overstock in boxes underneath all the racks! That's the shit I never have time to go through (except when there's a specific artist I'm focusing in on). You've got CDs in the racks, then ringing the entire room is a shelf of box sets and limited editions, then above that VHS tapes, and above that vintage audio equipment. Sections for DVDs and blu-rays (not just music, but movies as well, including a small section of 4K and 3D titles). There's a smaller upper room level that is nothing but vinyl. If you're going to go, plan at least a full day, not just a quick drive-by. They're open from 11AM - 7PM Eastern Time.     Expensive at $249.99, but how many places have a still-sealed copy of the Vanden Plas Epic Works box set???     And now the stuff I picked up this trip. Most is completist fodder. There are a few artists where I literally want an example of every single pressing, even if I already have other label/year/country versions... call me OCD.               I picked up this one for trade/resale even though I already have it, as it is the LOOOONG out of print original fan club edition.     Hmmm... didn't know there was a solo effort, and it seems to be thematically related to the Threshold album "Legend of the Shires".       More OCD completist fodder. I didn't know that Avalon Records (Japan) licensed releases for South Korea.         Live albums aren't normally my thing, but this appears to be way out of print, and for $10 why not?   A few OOP releases for my multichannel audio collection       I'll be posting more about these once I get my shit together, but I'm WAAAAAAAAAY fucking late to the game when it comes to the Jethro Tull 40th anniversary CD + DVD special editions. They only reason I knew about them at all is that I saw a blurb about the 40th anniversary edition of "Broadsword and the Beast", which is my alltime favorite JT album, the first one I ever heard, and I love the album cover... which led me down the rabbithole of all these anniversary editions and their multichannel mixes. Unfortunately a few of them are now OOP and insanely in the $150-300 range. I ordered all of the ones that were still in print (or that had been reprinted), but there were still 4 that I needed... and they had one of them.   And lastly, the most expensive purchase of the day, going back to previous box set discussions, this was one that wasn't on my radar at the time it came out. Based upon eBay listings, it's now a tough find... and they had one still sealed. No, it's not the Amazon exclusive that was signed by Biff Byford, but autographs aren't important enough for me to spend the $500-$1,000 that the signed version now brings. This one will do nicely at a fraction of the cost... a huge and hefty tome (literally).   So when all was said and done, a great (and expensive!) shopping day, but a place I wholeheartedly recommend visiting should you find yourself out here in flyover country. JL Records 380 Brown St West Lafayette, IN 47906 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100041894265953
    • What's this one mate? A guess at the previous riddle or a new one?
    • At the risk of sounding foolish once again... I don't get it.
    • Album out May 31 on Metalopolis Records. The last album was stellar.
    • Hey Now am I the winner again ??!
    • Sundown - Lonerider
    • I guess you two are the only ones playing this game.  It was, of course, Harem Scarem. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.