Chaos Magic
Chaos Magic
Frontiers Music Srl
2015
Chaos Magic is a new music project by the mastermind Timo Tolkki which features the young & beautiful Caterina Nix on vocals and Jami Huovinen (Ex-Stratovarius) on drums. Basically, this project was created to promote Caterina into the metal community. She also took part in Timo’s Avalon Rock Opera “Angels of the Apocalypse” almost a year ago.
Caterina is a desirable lady with a fairly good voice and two lusty long legs. I told myself not to comment about her legs but that’s all I got from the project’s promo pics! Caterina may be the protagonist here but the actual leading role is played by Timo, who has performed, written and produced the album. I wasn’t satisfied by the latest Avalon production. It was a bit mess in truth to be told. Mercifully, the production here is way better but not as full, tight and updated as it should be. Caterina is upfront in the mix too.
The whole album’s atmosphere smells Strato from miles away. It’s obvious that Timo cannot escape his Strato past and his specific songwriting formula, even though he tries hard to avoid the power metal clichés and wants to sound more like Within Temptation… somewhat symphonic and gothic at the same time… but in my opinion he doesn’t manage to get close to Within Temptation at all. It’s a good try but it leaves a lot to be desired. It badly lacks the strong hooklines, the refined musical themes and the strong sound. It’s OK but too overdone, dull and run of the mill as a whole. Why’s that? Obviously Timo needs to re-arrange some songwriting tricks of his and add more variety to his music. Musical themes that he has used too many times before are still repeated in every little musical project of his and that ain’t very flattering for one of the top Euro power metal composers of the 90s. For instance, how many times have we heard a track like “The Point of No Return” by Timo?!! I’ve listened to the album several times in a row and still cannot remember a bad melody. Chaos Magic ain’t meant to go further but let’s hope that Caterina won’t be another beautiful singer that got lost in the way. As for Timo… he is Timo, one of our beloved power metallers, and I believe that he won’t find peace of mind till he reconquests Strato and makes them a top band like they were in the past…
Caterina is a desirable lady with a fairly good voice and two lusty long legs. I told myself not to comment about her legs but that’s all I got from the project’s promo pics! Caterina may be the protagonist here but the actual leading role is played by Timo, who has performed, written and produced the album. I wasn’t satisfied by the latest Avalon production. It was a bit mess in truth to be told. Mercifully, the production here is way better but not as full, tight and updated as it should be. Caterina is upfront in the mix too.
The whole album’s atmosphere smells Strato from miles away. It’s obvious that Timo cannot escape his Strato past and his specific songwriting formula, even though he tries hard to avoid the power metal clichés and wants to sound more like Within Temptation… somewhat symphonic and gothic at the same time… but in my opinion he doesn’t manage to get close to Within Temptation at all. It’s a good try but it leaves a lot to be desired. It badly lacks the strong hooklines, the refined musical themes and the strong sound. It’s OK but too overdone, dull and run of the mill as a whole. Why’s that? Obviously Timo needs to re-arrange some songwriting tricks of his and add more variety to his music. Musical themes that he has used too many times before are still repeated in every little musical project of his and that ain’t very flattering for one of the top Euro power metal composers of the 90s. For instance, how many times have we heard a track like “The Point of No Return” by Timo?!! I’ve listened to the album several times in a row and still cannot remember a bad melody. Chaos Magic ain’t meant to go further but let’s hope that Caterina won’t be another beautiful singer that got lost in the way. As for Timo… he is Timo, one of our beloved power metallers, and I believe that he won’t find peace of mind till he reconquests Strato and makes them a top band like they were in the past…