This album is somewhat out of my area of preference, but I’d have to say that The Meldavians are respectable, and some very talented musicians. Their genre is somewhat of a blue grass, jazz and rock mixed together. Now I’m not the biggest fan of blue grass or jazz, but I’d have to say there’s just something about The Meldavians that I do happen to enjoy. Their vocalist has a soothing voice, and the instrument play is soothing as well. Put these two things together, and you really have a work of art! The Meldavians has not only piano play, but also keys which is rare for most bands to have, but it kind of builds some touch to the music that The Meldavians write. To be completely honest here, when I first listened to The Meldavians, I knew that this wouldn't be something I enjoyed fully, but I gave the song I was sent a few plays, and really enjoyed it. Then once I got the album I was like whoa, who knew It’d be out of my place in music? I really enjoyed “Farewell Arigemon”, to say the least and I’m stoked for the next record The Meldavians release. I hope it’s even better than this, and that is has more than 12 songs. A few songs that kind of stood out on this album would be, “Who Is The Better”, “Have I Told You?”, ”Eleven Hundred Years”,” Have You Ever Made A Movie”, “The Burning Of Oliste’s Place”, and “Farewell Arigemon”. “Who Is The Better” is the first song, and with this song you really see how long the songs are from The Meldavians. They definitely don’t write any short songs for their listener. Which I guess is a good thing, because if you really enjoy The Meldavians you’ll get to hear more of them. “Have I Told You” is the second song on the album, and my favorite when it comes to instrument play. There’s just something about the keys, and piano that stand out on this song to me, and makes it sound the best on the release. The vocals are pretty nice to hear, because their vocalist hits some high notes in this song which she does throughout the album. But some of the time, it’s not fully there. However, she does try it a lot, and successes more than she fails in my opinion. This isn't a bad thing, because it’s always good to hear when someone messes up in their music to show that it’s not all edits and production that are making it sound like something that it really isn't. “Eleven Hundred Years” is the third song on the album, and if you notice the first three stand out tracks I listed, are the first thing songs on the album. I didn't do that just because, I did it with reasoning. The first three songs capture The Meldavians sound pretty well, and they show you what you’re going to be listening to throughout the album; which is always pretty nice to hear. I know a few bands in the genres that I like do this, but not a lot, which is something I give props to The Meldavians for. As I was saying about “Eleven Hundred Years”, this is the last song I think to capture the full power of The Meldivians. The vocals are the thing that really stand out to me on this song, which is great. If you ask me, the song sounds a lot like a 80’s band fronted by a female, kind of has a Vixen feel to it (If you know Vixen.), even though I don’t think The Meldavians tried to use them as an influence in the song, the feeling is definitely there for them. “Have You Ever Made A Movie”, is the type of song that asks you questions and then leads into the song, but you’ll get asked questions throughout the song, and overall it’s a very relaxed and soothing song to listen to. It’s probably my second favorite song on the release. “The Burning Of Oliste’s Place” is the longest song on the album, and it has some of the best instrument play on the release, if you ask me. Sure some of the other songs have great instrument play, but this is the song with the best on the release. It being seven minutes, only makes the song more worth listening to as well. The vocals on the song are just wow too, there are some edits to the vocals to give them some effects, but hey? Who doesn't like effects, to make them sound a bit different, and add background vocals! “Farewell Arigemon” is the last song on the album, sadly. It happens to be the title track of the album, and second longest song on the album. I wish they would have gave it an extra ten seconds to make it a bit longer than “The Burning Of Oliste’s Place”. This song has some background effects, to help make it sound like it’s outside during the nighttime. This is pretty nice, and it’s another soothing song and those effects only make it more perfect. For a last song, I’d have to give it some major props. It ended this release off so perfectly, and will have the listener completely ready for another play, as well as another release from The Meldavians!

Breakdown:

Cleans: The vocalist only does cleans, so if you’re expecting any type of harsh rock vocals, this isn't the album for you in all honesty. At first, I really enjoyed the vocalist’s style, but there are some parts throughout the album that I didn't really enjoy at all from her. However, overall she knows her talents and knows how to hit some high notes, and how to make music she’ll love. Her vocals may not be all that impressive, but she does do the band’s sound some serious good! I think she should try to hit even higher notes, if it’s possible for her, but I’m not going to bash her vocals at all. It may come off that way, but to be completely honest, she has a really nice voice. She may not be ALL that impressive, but she’s still somewhat impressive.

Instruments: Oh boy… there’s a lot of instruments in this band; keys, bass, piano, guitar and I’m pretty sure there’s more. Overall, I’d have to give these guys their dues. They’re all pretty talented if I do say so myself, and I really did enjoy the fact there are keys, and a piano on the album. Playing piano, or keys, is not an easy task to accomplish. However, The Meldavians play very amazing keys. The piano and keys really stand out, which is also not easy to accomplish. Most of the time, the other instruments in a band cover up the key play; but with The Meldavians, this was not the case! These two great instruments used together in this band was very impressive in my opinion. I give them major props!

Rating: 8/10

Like them on facebook