Reflections of the Conventional - 80% Written by karma_sleeper on July 9th, 2007

Essence of Sorrow’s debut album Reflections of the Obscure is a standard melodic power metal release. Conventional is an excellent word to describe most of this album. What began as a solo project by Jeni Stefanovic of DivineFire grew in scope to include Christian Palin of Random Eyes and Mikko Härkin formerly of Sonata Arctica. As a result, the album sounds very similar to former releases by the above mentioned bands, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Standard is sometimes good, as in this case. However, if you are looking for a groundbreaking album, you won’t find it in Relfections of the Obscure.

One of the first things that struck me about this album was the level of variety in terms of tone, pacing, and especially vocals. Palin’s voice is gentle and controlled accentuated by interspersed moments of near growling notes. Songs like Supreme Oppression and The Mirror call this distinction to mind. Much like the vocals, the keyboards range from calculated and ambient to forecful, at times overpowering the song. The guitar work, however, is consistent throughout, characterized by sharp, pounding riffs and great leads from time to time. The drums are pretty standard power metal fare and often match with the guitars.

Lyrically, Reflections of the Obscure is somewhat dull. A constant sense of nagging pervades most of the songs. This quality, unfortunately, tends to border on preachy. The lyrics in Hollow, for example, appear to relentlessly lament the state of the world hinting at some sinister influence, yet fall short on a solution. The existential reflections of The Mirror and Ashes are also painfully clichéd. “Feels like my life is hanging by a thread,” or “Tell me do you feel / Anything at all,” made me cringe. Overall, the lyrics are not bad, but lack an original feel. They are far from unique but serve their purpose well enough.

In short, Reflections of the Obscure is generic melodic power metal at a fast pace. This is an excellent first release and the big name polish helps it shine. While not a must own by any means, it is still a great piece to add to your collection if you are looking for solid power metal by talented musicians.