Lunocode-Last day of the earth

Spider Rock

2011

"Last day of the earth" is the debut from this female fronted progressive/power metal band. It consists of six songs and clocks in around 34 minutes, but is listed as an EP. I guess times have changed as most of Van Halen's early albums were around that time frame and they were considered full length albums. However many metal bands today seem to shoot for longer albums. Anyways Lunocode lists artists such as Dream Theater, Stratovarius and Angra as influences. I can heard all those particularly Stratovarius because even though this band does touch on both power and progressive metal styles they do tend to lean more towards the power metal end of the spectrum. That's fine with me because they handle that sound very well. We get soaring melodies and the songs are generally upbeat in nature,but move along very nicely. The biggest surprise here was vocalist Cecilia Menghi who fortunately goes for a non-operatic vocal approach, but instead sings along a straight power metal vocal style. She has a wonderful range and blends in nicely with the music. Overall this is fine although slightly mellow power metal. The biggest problem is finding a strong reason to listen to this band over others of the genre. They do a number of things right on this album, but they don't quite do enough to establish their own sound or personality. However it's a decent start and I am willing to believe that they could come into their with more work and another recording. I am assuming a full length album is likely in the works for the near future.