Fantasea opens with the vocally-intensive track "Brave Hearts." Orchestral keyboard textures underscore the metal-edged sounds of rhythm and lead guitars. The guitar solos during the instrumental bridge clearly illustrates Thibaut and Stéphane's virtuosity. Valérie's vocal similarity to Lisa Bouchelle is immediately evident and absolutely gorgeous, but blended heavily with the instrumentals, the lyrics are often lost in the arrangements. Mastering credits are omitted from the liner notes and as a self-produced album, might contribute to the general lack of individual instrument and vocal imaging. While we adore the music on the album, we found the production of the album to be a bit of a drawback and won't belabor our discussion with this any further. "The Storm" begins gentler, with keyboard passages more evident within the mix. Soon the guitar-laden mix takes over and Valérie's vocal take hold. We especially enjoyed the soaring ballad-like vocal introduction to—and chorus within—"Secrets of the Seas" that contrasts the heavy guitar and percussion arrangements which overcome Valérie's vocal part during the verses. We enjoyed the band's studio recording of "Far Away," while different than the LB Labs mix, because it offers one of the better mixes of the album Valérie's powerful and soaring vocals recorded at a notably higher level. Dynamic guitar solos dominate the instrumental bridges. The album's one instrumental-only number is "Aquatic Coma" while the "Fantasea" intro could also be classified the same. Thibaut's rapid-fire lead guitar drives the melody in the former typically heavy metal tune while Stéphane's rhythm guitar underscores its theme through the song's individual movements. Seb's crisply played percussion adds nicely to the texture achieved. The band's cover of Kiss' "I Still Love You" is tremendous. "Fantasea" is actually an intro to a three-part epic with the other two parts being "Heresy (The Trial of Galleleo)" and "Shame (Words to Virginia)". We especially enjoyed the keyboard passage of "Fantasea." "Heresy" is typically heavy metal with guitars driving the arrangement. Although the track is laced Valérie's multi-tracked vocals, their mix could be improved to make the lyrics easier to comprehend. We also especially enjoyed the Valérie's extended vocalise passage as the track comes to a close. We found the addition of a lighter lead guitar part, further keyboard passages and soaring vocal excursions within "Shame" to blend progressive rock with heavy metal sounds. The LB Studio mix of "Far Away" concludes the album. It not only illustrates Syrens Call's true instrumental virtuosity but the range, power and dramatic talent of their stunning lead vocalist Valérie Paul. We would certainly like to hear more of their music recorded this way but understand that, especially as a newly emerging band, budget limitations don't always make that possible. Review by "Russell W Elliot" (www.musicaldiscoveries.com).
RATING: 7.75 / 10 **GREAT**
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