Axxis: Utopia

Unbelievably 2009 sees Axxis celebrate their 20th anniversary, which makes it all the more surprising that Utopia, their 12th album, is the first time that I have come into contact with them.

For a band that has been on the scene so long it is to their credit that Utopia sounds instantly fresh and relevant. This is no retro metal-fest, instead you get tight well written melodic power metal that is strongly flavoured, although not drowned, in excellent keyboards. For most of the tracks on show a good reference point would be to blend early Helloween or Gamma Ray with the likes of Serenity. Therefore it would be fair to suggest that Axxis certainly don't have any intentions of reinventing the metal mould, however if straight ahead Euro power metal appeals to you then the likes of the title track, or "Underworld" roar along in such a way that you can't help but get caught up in the larger than life havoc created by Marco Wriedt's guitar and Harry Oellers' keyboards.

Oellers feature strongly across all the tracks; however he has a deft touch and embellishes the songs rather than swamping them with huge power chords. For the most part his playing closely follows the guitar melody and works extremely well with it. When he does come more to the forefront as he does on the stand out "Heavy Rain" his contribution is first class.

The rhythm section of drummer Alex Landenburg and Rob Schomaker on bass know how to keep things on track with their firm, dense contributions. Landenburg is particularly impressive, managing to keep the music tight and focused while still giving his kit a severe work out.

With all the impressive musicianship behind him vocalist Berhard Weiss consistently proves he is up to scratch. He has the right amount of power and melody to shine within the riffs, especially in the afore mentioned "Heavy Rain", "Underworld" and "Eyes of a Child". He has the classic Germanic mix of Michael Kiske and Klaus Meine that demands your attention. His performance on ballad "Fathers Eye" shows a completely different side to him, coming across as passionate yet vulnerable. Very classy indeed.

With its excellent production and mix Utopia may not be the most innovative metal release of the year, however if good honest, believable, heavy music is what you crave, then joining Axxis in their anniversary celebrations is very much recommended.

Track list:
1. Journey to Utopia
2. Utopia
3. Last man on earth
4. Fass mich an
5. Sarah wanna die
6. My fathers' eyes
7. The monsters crawl
8. Eyes of a child
9. Heavy rain
10. For you I will die
11. Underworld
Bonus on Digipak:
12. Taste my blood
13. 20 Years Anniversary Song

Added: September 24th 2009
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 3195
Language: english

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