Imperia - Queen Of Light

Year of Release: 2007
Label: Massacre records
Catalog Number: MAS PC0543
Format: CD
Total Time: 67:49:00

In 2004 I listened to the debut album of Helena Michaelsen's Imperia, The Ancient Dance Of Qetesh. I like the popular gothic music, created by bands like After Forever, Epica, Nightwish and so on. But Imperia stood out in the crowd because singer Helena Michaelsen has such an unusual voice with a lot of power. That debut album made quite an impression on me. In 2005 she released an album under the name Angel, which I unfortunately missed, but in 2007 she is back with a second Imperia album!

A lot has happened since and that is reflected in the music. On The Ancient Dance Of Qetesh, a lot of the lyrics were quite personal and no doubt this is similar on Queen Of Light. Since the promo came without lyrics, however, I can't go into that. One thing I learned from her website is that during the recordings Helena was pregnant and the baby was actually born while the band was recording the album! Her little baby girl was named Angel (what a surprise), and already made her debut on the album.

Queen Of Light is a very different album. More accessible and less gothic. Helena has a way of doing some impressive and yet experimental things with her vocals. That is not so much the case here ... only a few times. However, she is still a great singer, as she does a lot of different things with her voice. And she is backed by a great band that incidentally is also the same band that backs her on the Angel album! Musically the band balances between gothic rock and melodic metal. Superb guitar riffs (by Jan Yrlund and John Stam) and lots of orchestrations (again by Audun Gronnestad) and keyboards ... a good mix for music that will tickle your ears.

So, the ingredients are right. Of course, also the rhythm section, by Gerry Verstreken and Steve Wolz, is good. And the album is great to listen to; especially while driving, take songs like "Fly Like The Wind" and "Broken Wings," for instance. In the latter, her operatic vocals come floating up again. "Raped By The Devil" is a more experimental song, but definitely a highlight of the album. Another highlight is the track "Norway." The country Norway is the homeland of Helena and after a few years living in the Netherlands, she returned there. Given the folklore that country has, it should not be a surprise the song is quite bombastic, with some heavy grunts in it! Wow. While other bands are dropping the grunts, Imperia brings them in! Kudos...

Special mention must be made of track nine: "The Birth Of...!" The baby sounds you hear are the actual debut of Helena's baby girl Angel! And that could not be any better intro to the excellent title track "Queen Of Light." Here the gothic elements float up again, as well as some Egyptian/Eastern influences, which I loved on the previous album. A nice up-tempo song with great guitar riffs and great vocals. The last song I'll mention is "The Calling" ... for this is yet another highlight of the album. But beware: very experimental vocals that are on the borderline to madness! A very intense track, but very good.

There are a few songs that did not impress me that much, but overall I like the album very much. It is more accessible than The Ancient Dance Of Qetesh. I understand musicians have to live and thus have to take into consideration they have to sell albums, but I must say Queen Of Light did not impress me as much as the first one did. Still, I love Helena Michael's vocals and that alone is worth the album. And fact is, the songs are good and the band is excellent, so I definitely recommend the album. I think a lot of people will enjoy it and it could lead to a bigger audience for Imperia and I think they deserve that.

Tracklisting:
Mirror / Fly Like The Wind / Raped By The Devil / Broken Wings / Braveheart / Facing Reality / Norway / Abyssum / The Birth Of... / Queen Of Light / Fata Morgana / The Calling / Missing You

Musicians:
Helena Michaelsen - vocals
Jan Yrlund - guitars
John Stam - guitars
Gerry Verstreken - Bass
Steve Wolz - drums
Audun Gronnestad - orchestrations

Discography:
Ancient Dance Of Qetesh (2004)
Queen Of Light (2007)

Genre: Melodic Metal

Origin NL

Added: April 30th 2007
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: www.helena-michaelsen.com
Hits: 3411
Language: english