Queen of Light

Helena Iren Michaelsen (formerly Trail Of Tears) pleased me a lot of with her new band Imperia and first album release ''The Ancient Dance Of Qetesh'', back in 2004. The band was signed on Ebony Tears Records and everything seemed to work out well. The power and strength of that album can be summarized as modest, sensitive and straight from the heart. Helena’s second band Angel, signed on Black Lotus Records from Greece, released in 2005 their first output ''A Woman's Diary - Chapter 1'', and this album soaked off a lot of personal emotions and vulnerable respect for life and death. Unfortunately, both labels desist, so Helena and Co. had to look for an interesting partner to continue their path. Massacre Records offered Imperia a two album deal, so the first obstacle was taken. The band with renewed line up entered the Spacelab Studio, to record the successor of their debut album. At this moment, the line up of Imperia is the same as the line up of Angel, so I guess the members will continue to write and decide afterwards if the new material fits best for Imperia or Angel. Title of the new album is ''Queen Of Light'' which refers to the birth of Helena's second child, which is born in September of last year. Giving birth to a child result in a different mood, different way of thinking and of course moments of consideration. If you listen and enjoy the songs on the new album, you will notice that Helena likes to sing about her own deepest feelings and emotions. One of the new members in the line up is Jan Yrlund, who wrote most of the new material, and this fresh blood did a great job! The songs are pretty heavy, varied and fresh and the vocal lines of Helena are less theatrical and will appeal to a lot of metal fans. The openings track ''Mirror'' is a direct punch in the face, followed by ''Fly Like The Wind'' and a third up-tempo song ''Raped By The Devil''. A first moment of rest is ''Broken Wings'' with a delicate and touching chorus line. The 13 tracks on the new album ''Queen Of Light'' have each a strong and convincing attitude, and the variety result in a wonderful totality. The albums gets better the more you listen to the songs, and isn’t that the stuff that we all are looking for? This is a timeless release, which will take you by storm! Helena's new born daughter also features on the album. Take a listen to the track ''The Birth Of...'' and you will hear Angel’s first acquaintance with a recording studio. The next track ''Queen Of Light'' is in my opinion the best song of the whole album. What a diversity and mixture of feelings! The band will perform on the upcoming Tuska Open Air Festival in Finland, and hopefully will bring them to a town near you! This band was great with their first release, but proves that fresh blood in the line up can lift them to the next level. Imperia is ready to take the world by storm! My rating: 93/100 ——Patrick de Sloover on behalf of Metal To Infinity Webzine