FORGOTTEN TALES

Forgotten Tales third album after more then 5 years silence, named We all shall see the light from 2010 is another good release in melodic power metal scene. The original drumer left in this period and was replaced by Mike Belanger, the rest of the musicians remains still. So, after so many years silence what do I expect from Forgotten Tales new album, will they keep the same attitude as before, same melodic power metal with some progressive metal twists, the answer is yes. They bring to surface a good album full of crunchy guitars, good female vocal lines and above all some enjoyble and not boring arrangements overall. Thier second album from 2004 was their best so far that's for sure and remains the best they ever done and the most progressive from all 3. Besides the fact that Forgotten Tales was never a totaly progressive metal band, they always had power metal elements includeded in the mixt, this time is no diffrent, maybe in places more power metal and less progressive turns but not bad at all. Short pieces . all are under six and half minuts but enjoyble are all pieces, So for this ne w album I will give 3 stars, I like this band and I was with my eye on them since their beggining. Good release but still nothing realy impressive or groundbreaking.

Their second release from 2004 named All the sinners. Well this is much better and variated in every way over the first. The progressive elements are more in front, and the power metal is melted very well with progressive metal in this case. Again a top musicianship, very good and strong are the guitar riffs and solos made by the main man of the band Martin Desharnais, and the voice of Sonia is again heavenly. The best pieces are all, not a step back from the previous album, all are winners, and shows that the band is now more mature more confident in their posibilities of making what they know best - progressive power metal. They also gained a good reputation in concerts, playing on stage with some well known bands like:Gamma Ray, Stratovarius or Edguy over the years, so another good thing on their career. Now, we hope that this is not the final release of this , not necesarly over the top band, but for sure very pleasent and very promissing in prog metal field. On their offcial site is said that they are preparing a new release somewhere in spring next year, looking forward for this release for sure. Now, as I said on previous album, because they are an independent band and don't have a major label under they wings the albums are available to buy only from their offcial site, so don't hesitate to buy them, I bought them and I was not diseppointed at all, specialy thir second one All the sinners is a real treat for all prog listners and desearve from me 4 stars for sure. Still very underated band and for sure needs more then that.

Forgotten Tales is a canadian band who plays melodic power metal with prog metal leanings, less prog on first album - The promis from 2001, and more prog on their second one. Now this album brings nothing new in the genre , but is well composed, well performed and above all is not boring at all. The musicianship is good delivering some intristing guitar chops over a powerfull voice of Sonia Pineault. So all in all a good album, a good debut, but something still is not moveing for them, that something is in my opinion they don't have a major label under their wings, as a independed band is hard to promote properly your stuff and made some noise in this prog metal jungle, this thing still happening with their second album. Now this been said , the best pieces are: Far away - a midtempo piece where we can see how great voice has this Sonia, very powerfull in style of Lana Lane or Sabine Edelbacher from Edenbridge and the title track The promise, the rest are ok. So a good album with midtempo pieces, fast ones with nervous guitar riifs, and a pleasent voice among them. 3 star for this debut, their second one will be much better and variated.

When a band releases a second album, the expectations are usually high. No doubt about that. For an independent band, I think the pressure is twice as great as to whether they bring out a good product and survive, or whether they flicker and die. "All the sinners" by Forgotten Tales passed the test admirably. It is a great album; better in every aspect than the first one: "The promise". I must say that I'm impressed because as you know, a lot of bands tend to repeat themselves with every release. Forgotten Tales doesn't! They take their music to a new level. The sound is better, the songs are more mature, tighter, and more interesting in general. Also, the vocal melodies have improved too. I think the band learned a lot from their past experience and probably, from constructive criticism they gathered from around the world. You know, there are times when reviews help!

Yes, Forgotten Tales is still a power metal band influenced by bands like Rhapsody and Gamma Ray; that we already know. But they are not a copy. If you really give it a listening chance, you will discover subtleness in musicality behind each song. I think musicians will understand more what I mean. The songs are more complex in general, and there are more progressive passages; something that you don't hear very often in this kind of music. (ex. Gamma Ray, Edguy, etc.) This, they manage to do without getting stuck into boring technicality. It is a good balance between performance and feeling. I think each kind of power metal fan will find one song to suit his or her taste on this album. My favourite song is "Three wishes", which contains many musical variations. It reminds me a bit of songs like "Keeper of the seven keys" by Helloween but it is more aggressive. In my opinion, the weakest song is "Fairytales", because the debut reminds me too much of "Black diamond" by Stratovarius. But, hey, nobody's perfect!

I like the new guitar solos on this album. You know, a lot of guitar players seem to repeat what they have done previously. Martin has new ideas. Some are interesting and melodious, some fast (not only for the sake of being fast), and some, slower and with feeling. I think in the song called "The message", Martin gives us a good idea of what he can do. He has good technique and his picking is always very precise,. In some songs, the bassist plays with his fingers like there's no tomorrow, man. He's fast! The one instrument that has evolved more than any other, besides the vocal, is the drums. I don't know what happened between "The Promise" and "All the sinners" but, the drummer is more versatile. His hihat has subtlety and he does offbeats (which I don't hear often in power metal). The guy has improved. As for the keyboards, you can compare them with what's on the first album, but I am not a good enough to judge whether or not the guy is better. Well, in the song "March of Freedom", he gives us a small solo. Interesting. Once again, the band is unbelievably tight. Like clockwork. Quite amazing for an independent release.

The sound of the album is really great. I said, previously, that the recording volume of the first album was lower than average. Well, Forgotten Tales has corrected that problem. They kept the dynamic of their sound with few compressors. It is kind of new to the power metal trend, because the fans are used to hearing a sound on their albums that is dominated by the drums and guitars. They used a mix based on the sound you find on albums done by progressive bands and applied it to heavy metal music. Some people will like it and others, simply won't. It depends if you are open- minded or not. I like it a lot, because it is the first time in power metal that we can hear every instrument. For example, with power metal, sometimes you can actually remove the bass and the song won't change because it is the least heard of the instruments. Not the case with Forgotten Tales. I like their kind of sound mix. It is quite unique.

In conclusion, like the album "The promise", if you are into Rhapsody, Stratovarius and European Melodic Power Metal with a very unique touch, I think you should give this band a try. Once again, they have no label so their albums are very difficult to find on the market. I don't understand why they haven't been signed by a major label in Europe yet. I've seen worse releases out there.

Hey hey. Now this is interesting. Finally, a band from where I come from. Forgotten Tales is straight from the frozen hood of Quebec City. And I don't wanna brag, but anybody who comes from there knows that Quebec City is THE place where metal reigns as supreme musical king.

Since the late 70's throughout the 80's, 90's and Y2K, Quebec has been the castle of metal in every form. Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Motley Crue, Guns n' Roses, Judas Priest, Rush, Kiss, Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Dream Theater and of course, the Kings of Kings....Metallica. Metallica was so popular in the Quebec City region, it's name became sacred in the thousands of headbanging hearts. I, for instance, do not share the taste of heavy metal. BUT! because of my hickville high school, I got dipped in metal so often and at such a repetitive way that our feet stomps instantly at the sound of Back in Black, Master of Puppets or Run to the Hill.

And now, graduating from the metal school with bright colors, Forgotten Tales is sharing some of their primo work with us. Primo in the terms of musicianship, because they pass the test with a hand tied in the back. Expect, of course, the solid double bass drum, heavy, crunchy and sharp guitar riffs but also delicate and almost baroque style keyboard work by my college mate: Fred 'Bob's Fat Christmas' Desroches. I know this is name dropping, but hey, that's MY 15 seconds of glory (good job man!).

They share a taste for medieval dragon slaying stuff, which is fine with me. But what strucked me instantly is the catchyness of many tracks. I mean the song Word of Truth has benn litteraly carved in my head after the second listening. Which is kinda rare when complexity (plenty in here) is implicated. Pineault's voice is clear and powerful, but shouldn't been too tamed in studio. She has a certain vocal power that should benefit better production. But this is minor criticism.

Of course not a classic of the genre, but has the opinion of many friends, deserves a fair place in your collection right beside Symphony X, Rhapsody, HammerFall or Sonata Artica.