Alexis: Birds Of Prey

Ranging from straight ahead power metal, to something a little more aimed at good old fashioned heavy metal, "Birds Of Prey", which is the debut album from Chilean frontman Alexis, is a solid album that batters into your ears with power and precision, although it is all a little "heard it all before". There's no doubting that the partnership of Julian Jabbaz and Gino Mikanovic are fine guitarists and that both can fire their way through some mighty fine riffage and blistering solos or that Alex Cofre on bass and Juan Ulloa on drums are capable of setting a solid, if simple foundation for the songs. The likes of "Friendly Fire" and "Shadows" barrel along at breakneck speed with their powerful main riffs being complemented by some fine fret melting and are good fun, if a little throwaway.

Whilst there really is nothing to make this album stand out from the crowd, it does have to be said that there is an attempt to add the odd variation to the power/speed recipe, with "Golden Path" rumbling gently along on a low slung bass line that with added keyboards creates a welcome change of atmosphere. I also enjoyed the very Mercyful Fate attack of "Metallizer II", which surprisingly sees Alexis' vocals land somewhere between the screech of Rob Halford and the wail of King Diamond. It's a trick he doesn't try often, but one that he does pull off with ease and while it may not be to everyone's taste, I found it to be the strongest track on the album by quite some distance.

The main issue I have however is that the actual album itself clocks in at less than twenty eight minutes, with three old songs from Freddy Alexis plonked on at the end to add to the running time. Of those three songs "Without You" works least as it is, for the main, acoustic guitar and vocals and just doesn't fit with what else is on offer here. The other two tracks - "The Witchblade" and "Killing Truth" fit in far better style wise and are actually more interesting than some of the main album songs.

So all in it is a bit of a mixed bag, with some real moments of promise and others that are rather confused. Definitely not the best metal album you will hear this year but far from the worst and certainly a solid if unspectacular base for Alexis to build on.

Track Listing
1. Intro

2. Shadows

3. Golden Path

4. Friendly Fire

5. Birds of Prey

6. Breaking the Spell

7. Metalizer II

8. Forest

9. Without You (remix/remaster)

10. The Witchblade (remix/remaster)

11. Killing Truth (remix/remaster)

Added: October 17th 2010
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Pitch Black Records
Hits: 1379
Language: english

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