Beyond The Space, Beyond The Time [CD]

Despite a huge global following, symphonic power metal is generally a scene devoid of originality outside the genre-defining albums from its beloved pioneers, Nightwish and Rhapsody (of fire). In fact, it's often baffling to comprehend just how many imitators there are out their gleefully having musical careers of the respective templates the aforementioned set down over a decade ago. So, when a band like Pathfinder, from Poland no less, comes along and claims to be something just that wee bit different from the crowd, i just couldn't resist checking it out.

Thankfully, Pathfinder have nothing to do with that awful movie of the same name where Eomir from Lord of the Rings pretends is a Native American fighting Vikings. Oh, its soooooooooo much better than that! I must admit, I wasn't too impressed by the instrumental opener 'Deep into Darkness...', which isn't bad but isn't distinctive in any way. However, as soon as 'Whisper of the ancient rocks' properly kicks the album of, it's pretty clear that Pathfinder is onto something very, very special with Beyond the Space, Beyond the Time. Exploding out the gate with the kind of super-fast leads and technically-stunning guitar histrionics popularised by DragonForce, Pathfinder are very technically able band and quite astonishing players. The song carries on into a strong speed metal verse that is somewhere between Helloween and Lost Horizon, before the symphonic elements ala Rhapsody swing by for a very grant chorus and slick instrumental breaks. The song is pretty much indicative of the quality of the album as a whole. They do borrow a lot from Rhapsody, but Pathfinder don't really have the reinessience/folky thing of Rhapsody going on, and at times are closer to a hugely symphonic Lost Horizon (especially with some of the gruffer vocals and glass shattering falsetto screams) or a ballsyer Gamma Ray, but at the same time being as fast and as savvy on the fret boards as DragonForce. However, thankfully, they're no were near as formulaic or repetitive as DragonForce; rather, the band uses liberal variety in their compositions, which go from slow to fast and everything in between, usually in the same song. Songs are rather complex, but with strong hooks and anthemic choruses (see 'Lord of the Wolves' and 'The Demon Awakens' to keep everything nice and memorable. The lead singer. Simon Kostro, has one hell of a set of lungs, who channels the mighty Daniel Heiman as he belts it out with passion and panache. His charasmatic and versatile vocals give the album a sense of youthful bravado and energy thats quite infectious, mixing in everything from power metal singing, clean singing, the odd growl and a great falcetto scream. And let's face it, there's nothing worse than a talented band with a bad singer, is there? As is obligatory in the genre, there's plenty of bizarre lyrics about 'astro-dragons', 'fighting the forces of chaos' and 'dwarves and elves establishing a united kingdom', and as silly as it sounds, it does indeed suit the eccentric nature of the music.

As for the songs themselves, it's hard to pick out favourites as they're all so high quality and so damn good. 'whisper of the Ancient Rocks' really gets the album kicking, has a great chorus and these awesome Rhapsody-like symphonic breaks after, while 'Lord of the Wolves' is just too damn epic for its own good. Even token ballad 'Undiscovered Dreams' doesn't get the normal fate of ballads in my book, which is a swift kick to the fast forward button. 'To the island of Immortal Fire' also deserves honourable mention for the pirate-jaunt of it that simply begs to be sung a long to. It even reminds me Equillibrium in parts, instrumentally anyways. And as if things couldn't get any better, the penultimate title track is 10 minutes of sheer power metal madness, with more time-changes then a round-the-world flight and about 4 different vocalists going at it. Epic indeed.

Now, you may listen to this and think 'eh, what's he on about. This sounds so generic', and you might be right. But i think the mixing of the Rhapsody-style orchestral stuff with the more traditional sounds of Gamma Ray or Lost Horizon, while cutting out a lot of the reinessience stuff Turili and his boys are known for, Pathfinder are taking the genre forward and actually bravely forging their own path (pun intended) through a crowded and often downright stagnant subspecies of metal. For that, combined with the overall quality of the music, singing and song writing, I find it hard not to give these Poles a full 5 stars for their debut.

Along with Oden Orgun, Pathfinder are could possibly be the future of power metal. Let's hope they continue to improve and progress with each subsequent release.

Highly recommended for fans of the genre or other bands mentioned in the review.

I have never felt the need to write a review before. And to be honest, i basically trust Hedon (above) for my music recommendations. But this album is utterly mad and far beyond any expectations. It's just utterly nuts. Every part of it is just brilliant - ludicrous vocals with so much personality from the occasional growl to crazy falsetto, along with the highest note i've ever hear anyone hit in the ballad duet 'Undiscovered Dreams'. The guitar solos are beyond belief, along with the accompanying keyboards, as any power metal fan would expect. The drumming is crazy good throughout, and as a bass player myself, the pleasant surprise is that the bass really comes through in the mix. There's even a few solos :-) Unbelievably the band apparently produced this without being signed to a label - the production is massive and stunning! You can't do this - they must be magicians. Basically i can't really do this justice. If you need convincing, somehow get hold of the title track - it is the best thing i have ever experienced that didn't have blonde hair and lovely boobs. Although at 10 and a half minutes it definitely lasted longer..

What the world needs now is not, love, love, love. Nope, we've tried that and it didnae work. Now, what the world needs is a new Polish symphonic power metal band. And here they are! Pathfinder! Hopefully named after the awesome film of the same name. Regardless, here they are, having a darned good go at the whole f Rhapsody of Fire / Dragonforce genre, and thinking "I'll have me a piece of that". And they're rather good.

Naturally, this is a genre where you have to switch a lot of your faculties off, as you await the arrival of 'The Lord Of Wolves', but once that's done, it's a rerr wee treat. They've got the fancy schmancy keyboard bits, the Iron Maiden riffs, the screaming guitar solos and the quasi-operatic vocals. Job done. There's even some good tunes, with the likes of 'Pathway to the Moon', 'The Whisper of Ancient Rocks', and 'Sons Of Immortal Fire' doing their symphonic power metal bit, very well indeed.

So it's a smattering of applause for Simon Kostro (vocals), Slavomir Belak (keyboards), Arkadiusz E. Ruth (bass), Karol Mania (guitars), Gunsen (guitars), and Kamil Ruth (drums). For a band who did all this themselves without the help of a record company, it's a fine achievement, as the production and presentation is good enough to stand up to, and stand out from a lot of people further up the power metal chain than they are.

If you've been looking for a new Stratovarius in your life, then I would certainly recommend trying out a bit of Pathfinder. I doubt you'll have many regrets.