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Kotipelto Album Review
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Band Name: Kotipelto
Album Name: Serenity Rating: 2.5 / 5 User Rating: 0 / 5 Label: Candlelight Records Buy Album: Amazon.com Rate Album: Rate |
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Tracklist 1. Once upon a Time 2. Sleep Well 3. Serenity 4. City of Mysteries 5. King Anti-Midas 6. Angels Will Cry 7. After the Rain 8. Mr. Know-It-All 9. Dreams and Reality 10. Last Defender |
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When not fronting the enormously popular power metal outfit Stratovarius, vocalist Timo Kotipelto spends his free time cutting solo records that sound exactly like Stratovarius. How can this be? It's baffling as to why an artist would choose to become an imitation of self as opposed to using the solo project bully pulpit to expand his creative vision. Here, on the follow-up to his sorely disappointing sophomore effort “Coldness,” Kotipelto and his menagerie of hired guns run the gamut of clichéd metal themes from the Helloween-happy opener “Once Upon A Time” to the cock-schlock single “Sleep Well” to the Wingeresque “City Of Mysteries.” In a nutshell, “Serenity” is chock full of worn-out themes that once again resemble a collection of tracks that wouldn't cut the mustard on a Strato effort. There's some degree to tasty axework and as always, Kotipelto's voice is top-notch. But as the frontman continues to further revisit ideas that were well played-out by C-list metal acts in the mid-eighties, it stands to reason that the singer is merely using his solo efforts as a platform for the re-visitation of his teenage years. No matter how slick the harmonies or how formulaically familiar-sounding this record is, it's just not exciting enough to impress during days when this style is a hard sell to begin with. Kotipelto has a great thing going with Strato and the best advice that can be offered is that the talented vocalist stick with his bread and butter. Americans can't even pronounce Kotipelto. Such an un-catchy name is not going to be uttered on radio stations across the US anytime soon. Whatever the frontman's reasons for continuing down a path of tri-annual solo records, it simply cannot be justified. No new territory is explored; no revelations are to be had. “Serenity” is capable but tedious, competent but lackluster, and certainly no match for the metal juggernaut that is Stratovarius. Review by: EF Read Member Reviews |
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