ALBUM REVIEW: Masters of the Multiverse – Dragony

After a three year absence, Austrian power metallers DRAGONY are back with their third studio album, Masters of the Multiverse. The album follows Shadowplay, as the band continue their relationship with Limb Music who signed the band in 2011 prior to their debut record Legends becoming available.

Just from the title of the band and the album itself, there are very big clues that this is a power metal album and artist – and from the opening seconds of the title track Flame Of Tar Valon you know straight away it is power metal. A gentle orchestral opening, gradually building up with the keyboards as the track whisks you away to a far medieval land, before the riffs and percussion kick in to accompany it. The keyboards fade and suddenly there’s a lot more emphasis on the guitar, before the keys come back in. Vocalist Siegfried “The Dragonslayer” Samer helps to really set the power metal tone with his soft singing style, similar to that of GLORYHAMMER, and all the ingredients come together well to make a solid opening track.

The next track If It Bleeds We Can Kill It takes a slightly different route to the first; the intro sounds very techno before reverting back to the generic power metal sound, with greater emphasis on the keyboards this time. The pace is a bit slower than the opening track, with the vocals being a touch higher pitched as it becomes more of a gentle ballad, with echoes of BATTLE BEAST echoing in the overall sound.

While some artists keep a consistent style and sound throughout the album, one thing that sticks out with power metal bands is that there is a fair amount of diversity between the tracks – there are big hitters which really get you headbanging, and then on the other end of the scale there are much gentler tracks. This is the same with Masters of the Multiverse, with the track Fallen Star fitting right under this bracket; the guitars are replaced for acoustic for the majority of the track, the keyboards and drums are very simple and gentle and the vocal range is much greater compared to the rest of the album.

There are ten tracks on this record, with each one having its own little differences to ensure each one has its own identity, and the range of different styles of power metal really show in the record. The main issue with this record though is that there aren’t really any new ideas; most of the tracks are very similar to what fans will have heard in the past through the likes of BLIND GUARDIAN for example. As mentioned above there are similarities between these tracks and other bands, and one of the heavier tracks, Angels On Neon Wings appears to have taken a big leaf out of SABATON’S book – the intro sounding very similar in style and sound to that of Wehrmacht from Coat Of Arms.

Credit where it’s due, DRAGONY have done well to continue where they left off with Shadowplay, and it’s a record that will appeal to die hard power metal fans, but overall there just seems to be something lacking to really make the record stand out from the crowd.

Rating: 6/10

Masters Of The Multiverse is out now via Limb Music. 

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