It
would be ignorant to just refer to this album as "pure epic Heavy
Metal". STONEFIELD obviously took a lot of influences from the 70's,
the epic end of Dio-era RAINBOW in particular, but the end result sound
more like a slowed down BLIND GUARDIAN than your average 70's retro act.
In my ears they did this style better than most Scandinavian or Japanese
bands in the same vein, at least on this their second release, which surpasses
their debut MLP from the year before in excellence. Dark, symphonic tracks
like "End Of Time" and "Spirits" elevates the album
well above the average of the time and the majestic Power Metal of "The
Liar" alone is a strong enough reason to make "Light Of Lies"
a good investment for the more centerfield Metal fan. I figure QUEENSRÿCHE-
as well as
ADRAMELCH- and
OMEGA-fans
will be rolling on the floor to this album.
There's something distinctively profound and mysterious about the lyrics
and graphics of STONEFIELD, but I'm having difficulties to pinpoint the
exact qualities that give me these occult vibes. It's certainly not their
insignia alone (a combined trident and inverted cross?!), but also lines
like:
"They take away all your gold, And sell you instead their bad lies.
To ease our problems they try, Happy-go-lucky love songs, The culture
is dying for you, To blame is the preacher untrue..."(The Liar)
"Look to the heavens, And see the light of your life, Look into darkness,
And feel the might of this time..."(Light Of Lies)
...and so on to even more odd and peculiar issues. Aw heck, I'm probably
reading too much into it, but add a little imagination and it gives the
album some extra esoteric edge and that definitely heightens the listening
experience, at least for me. (If I close my eyes to the silly comical
drawing of the lineup from the inner sleeve, that is.) The main thing
that knocks them off a possible, personal fave-list of 1990 would be the
occasional flaws in Ebenhard's singing. He makes a high and strong vocal
performance, perhaps not always in perfect tune, but very typical of this
genre. The Teutonic accent shines through a bit too brightly on a few
occasions though, and as you all know for a fact that's a very ugly language.