Warmen - Beyond Abilities

Year of Release: 2002
Label: Century Media
Catalog Number: 8092
Format: CD
Total Time: 46:33:00

Janne Warman, better known as the keyboard player of the Finnish super band Children of Bodom, has ventured into solo territory once again with his second Warmen release Beyond Abilities. Janne is joined by his permanent partners in crime, Mirka Rantanen on drums and Lauri Porra on bass (both of prog metal band Tunnelvision) Guitar duties have been taken up by Janne's brother Antti Warman (Craydawn) and Sami Virtanen (Mannerheim, Joe Doakes).

Warmen is all about fast moving neoclassic assaults, flowing melodies and heavy guitar licks. Immediately I am reminded of the distinct sounds and song-structures of Stratovarius, Nightwish or even Children of Bodom. 6 of the 11 songs are instrumentals, but if you prefer to sing along with vocals you wont be disappointed as Timo Kotipelto of Stratovarius and Kimberly Goss of Sinergy lend their vocals to 2 songs each and Pasi Nykanen (Throne of Chaos) sings one song.

The album bottoms out a couple of times when a misplaced song called "Dawn" and a cover of the Heart song "Alone" (sung by Kimberly) drags the overall energy down, but recovers quickly after Janne hits the ivory in a grand piano piece called "Confession" followed by "Salieri Strikes Back," an instrumental that could have been written by Andre Andersen of Royal Hunt. Beyond Abilities contains a variety of styles and the quality of play is at a very high standard but I would have preferred some more originality and consistency. Janne personally produced the album and most of the recordings were done at his own Warmen Studios while Mikko Karmila mixed the same at Finnvox Studios. The packaging and artwork (Janne Pitkanen) stands out and grabbed me instantly.

Overall this will appeal to fans of neoclassic nutters and is a very good release.

Also released by Spinefarm (SP1139CD)

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Beyond Abilities (3:27) / Spark (4:31) / Hidden (3:26) / Trip To? (3:07) / Dawn (4:45) / Singer's Chance (5:02) / Alone (3:46) / Confessions (2:46) / Salieri Strikes Back (5:17) / War Of Worlds (3:46) / Finale (6:33)

Musicians:
Janne Warman - keyboards, grand piano
Mirka Rantanen - drums
Lauri Porra - drums
Antti Warman - guitars
Sami Virtanen - guitars
Timo Kotipelto - vocals
Kimberly Goss - vocals
Pasi Nyk?nen - vocals

Discography:
Unknown Soldier (2000)
Beyond Abilities (2001)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin FI

Added: February 20th 2005
Reviewer: Gary Carson
Score:
Artist website: www.warmen.net
Hits: 2539
Language: english