DIVIDED MULTITUDE - Guardian Angel

11 songs
61:01 minutes
***** ***
Silverwolf

Bandpage

Although I have never come across Divided Multitude, this strong Norwegian metal band has been founded already fifteen years ago. They show impressively that melodic power metal can still sound very vivid on their fourth album Guardian Angel coming long seven years after its predecessor Falling To Pieces.

The CD starts with an intro that takes some getting used to, but the first regular track Nowhere To Hide sees the Norwegians rocking straight ahead. They found the optimal balance between the melodic and progressive components of their music. You’ll neither find technical swagger nor lame ducks of insipid balladry. The songs all come with enough power, have multilayered arrangements and are full of genial breaks. Most of the material is very catchy, which counts especially for the pathos filled choruses. Sindre Antonsen’s charismatic vocals are one of the band’s uncontested fortes. Some pieces come with more pronounced keyboard parts which integrate well into the overall sound. Some tracks come with cool organ sounds that add a certain retro touch. The album’s highlights are Something For Someone which sticks with you right from the start and the unusually hard My Dying Hour where the band even flirts with nu metal sounds.

Divided Multitude have certainly not reinvented the wheel, and comparisons to Symphony X, Iced Earth, Virgin Steele and partly Gamma Ray are in order. This shouldn’t be taken as a criticism though, because the Norwegians have managed the respectable feat of entertaining their audience for more than an hour without ever sounding boring. Defined by their label quite adequately as a prog metal band with balls, Divided Multitude should definitely find their fan base among the more demanding metal aficionados.