Minuetum: Haunted Spirit

Minuetum are a Greek melodic power metal band and have recently released their debut CD Haunted Spirit on 7Hard Records. In the band are Dimitris Zacharopoulos (vocals), Dimitris Melidis (keyboards), Jason Mercury (guitars), Ignacio Lopez (bass) and Nick Parotidis (drums). The band formed in 2007.

The band had some notable help in the studio as the album was produced by guest guitarist Bob Katsionis and mixed and mastered by ex-Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki and it comes as no surprise Tolkki's former band is a primary influence. The band offers plenty of melodies and shredding riffs throughout Haunted Spirit and the musicianship is very good. Minuetum are quite technical and the songs while being of the up-tempo variety do exhibit some melodic moments. Keyboards and guitars play off one another and the solos come fast and furious and of course the double bass drums come into play often, just what I would expect from a power metal band. Musically, this band has the chops but I did have a slight problem with this release, namely the vocals of Zacharopoulos. He does not have a horrible voice but it does come across a little flat at times and his heavily accented English vocals can be a bit distracting.

That said, the album does end with two of its better songs. The heavily orchestrated "Into the Night" is a catchy number with nice guitar and keys and "Eternal Twilight", at over ten minutes in length, shows a little more restraint and atmosphere and features guest vocalist Iro Kalligeri who does a great job and offers a nice contrast to Zacharopoulos' rougher delivery. Hopefully she will help them out on future releases.

Minuetum have potential but in a genre loaded with talent it takes something special to stand out from the crowd. Hopefully as the band matures they will rise above the pack. Only time will tell.

Track Listing:
1. Sky Minuet
2. The Dark Half
3. The Tribe Is Calling
4. Follow Us
5. Key To Glory
6. Hero Divine
7. Time To Fly
8. Ghost King
9. Into the Night
10. Eternal Twilight

Added: August 9th 2010
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's MySpace Page
Hits: 2030
Language: english

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