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Review:
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While down Mexico way on the trail of Nostra Morte,
I took the opportunity to visit the Fortaleza (Castle in
English) with their towering new 3rd CD. Their 2009 creation
Una Luz Entre Las Sombras had proved to be well worth the
excursion, so I was looking forward to exploring their brand
new edifice. They are fronted not by Sally Port but by the
delectable damsel Helena who has an utterly delightful semi
operatic voice and a lovely purity of tone, with lyrics
in Spanish. Their architecture is a mix of Streams of Passion
ethereal gothic and Wildpath light, delicate, up-tempo power
metal (but not speedy), with the occasional bursts of double
peddling following the fluttering French style, a quiver
of arrows rather than a volley of cannons. This is a band
that is more interested in gorgeous melodies, decorative
machicolations and a driving groove than smashing in your
drawbridge with a trebuchet, although they can ramp it up
when they want to. The very occasional growls are innocuous,
nothing for the anti growler brigade to worry about. Production
is immaculate and the performances from the whole band are
of the highest professional standards. This is about a whole
album of consistent quality rather than individual highlights
with filler in between. To avoid a Mexican standoff and
the resultant siege I would have to pick out ‘A Cada Suspiro
Tuyo’, ‘La Condesa’, ‘El Eco Del Miedo’ and ‘Tempestad’.
In Helena they have an outstanding vocal focal point, and
this is a highly professional outfit that deserve to raise
their standard all across Europe. This donjon of delights
is available at their Myspace citadel, http://www.myspace.com/fortalezaoculta
, a chivalric 8.75 out of 10.
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