DESTYNATION „Rising Up”

When a band chooses to play a specific kind of music, it's natural for them to repeat some or even all the cliches of the genre they choose. However, its nice to hear something that hearkens to the oldschool feel but done with some imagination. That's the case with Destynation, who plays melodic power metal, but somehow they manage to do it in a creative way with a sense of sincerity. They won't deny, if you ask them, that musically they are close to bands like HAMMERFALL, NOCTURNAL RITES, ASTRAL DOORS and RIOT, but they do have some very good ideas and there are moments in their music that might surprise you.

You may have never heard of this young band but they know their music. They have built their own studio, recorded and produced the album themselves, with the help from Anders Zackrisson with the mastering. Their musical style is a mix of melodic metal, heavy metal and hard rock! Keep in mind they are not exactly bringing any thing new into their music that we haven't heard before, but out of hundreds of releases in their genre I think Destynation scores big with twelve very well written songs, good production and they know how to play! Vocalist Andy has a really strong voice with a good melodic feel and has an impressive range in that at times sounds like a cross between Dio and Geoff Tate of Queensryche.

The band hails from a small town up in the northern part of Sweden, everyone except Andy who comes from a village further up north, close to the border to Finland. The band originally started out calling themselves Eternia in 1995. At the end of 1996 the band hired a new singer in Mats “Dabbe” Dahlberg who was a strong as frontman until the band broke up in 2003, after a gig with Lost Horizon. Then Ronny recalled meeting a drummer in music school some years before who had an extremely good voice, but currently was living in Stockholm. He thought “what the hell, let's give him a try”, so he called and asked him if he wanted to try out as new singer for the band.

After accepting the invitation he left Stockholm and moved to the same town with the rest of band and became a full member. A 3-song single was recorded in the studio of Anders Zackrisson (ex. Nocturnal Rites) and was released in
December 2003. Then in February 2005, they changed the name of the band to Destynation and a 3 song demo was recorded and Sonic Age Records, who had been in contact with the band since the Eternia days, was immediately ready to go! They signed a worldwide contract with the label in July 2005 and started recording in their new studio. “Studio Madness, during the winter of 2005. Mastered, again with the help of Anders Zackrisson. And now, with a brand new album that really rocks!

The album opens with a strong song called Shadowgate, which has a powerful melodic metal feel to it. You will instantly appreciate the great vocals, very precise dynamic rhythm section, and the amazing guitar work!

“Evil Tonight” is one of my favorites on the album, a more melodic oriented song with a sing-along chorus that gets stuck in your head after only a few spins. “Back From The Dark” is more like the first song, and I really like this style of songs where the strong melodic verses kicks off to a great chorus. “Freedom” is a beautiful song, the vocals on this song may have been a challenge for other singers but not for Andy, he handles it suberbly as he hits the high notes perfectly.

The titletrack is also a geat song, it builds up with its melodic lines and a strong chorus. “Threshold Of Pain” is maybe one of the most progressive influenced songs on the album, but still maintains a fine melody with a great chorus once again. Notice the cool instrumental melody contained in this tune. “The Shadows Remain” is a bit different from the rest of the other songs. A melodic hardrock oriented song which climaxes with the chorus. “The Tears I Cry” deals lyrically about a very twisted person who mixes his dreams with reality. A straight forward melodic metal song with some nice keyboard arrangements during the chorus. “Book Of Doom” is a song that starts very uptempo with cool riffs, but the really interesting thing about this song is the different tempos throughout the song. “Spirits” shows a spookier side of the band, and the song reminscent of the incomparable Dio.

“Signs” is a real pearl here, good melody and chorus
taking the song energetic plateaus! “Resign In Flames” closes out this fantastic album from Destynation and with quality songs, production and a sound that should have true metalheads “Rising Up”!

In conclusion this is a very melodic album with catchy and very heavy hooks and yet still focuses on the melodies as an added plus vocalist Anders voice is very suitable for this type of music. Each band member has very different influences, though the influences they do share are very similar bands such as; Europe, Helloween, EdGuy, Dream Evil, and Nocturnal Rites. They have a lot of 80:s influences which is understandable since the members grew up during that time period. Which makes the music a lot more interesting when you can hear all the instruments and the voice. Keeping it true with good/heavy riffs and powerfully clean vocals. Destynation are “destyned” for greater things to come! Stay Tuned!

note: 8/10

Tracklist

1. ShadowGate
2. Evil Tonight
3. Back From The Dark
4. Freedom
5. Rising Up
6. Threshold Of Pain
7. The Shadows Remain
8. The Tears I Cry
9. Book Of Doom
10. Spirits
11. Signs
12. Resign In Flames

Line-up

Anders Haggkvist – Vocals
Ronny Blylod – Guitar
Patrik Nordendahl – Bass
Daniel Niemann – Guitar
Magnus Larsson – Drums