Wings Of Fire

Label: Brennus/Musea
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 742630081171
EAN: 0742630081171
ASIN: B00067D0HM

Release Date: 2004-10-06

Wings Of Fire

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| Rock | Styles | Music

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Tracks:

The Pilgrimage
Babylon
Firewings
Trial By Fire
The Fifth Dimension
Still Of The Night
Blood In The Arena
Rebellion
Still Believe
Time To Live
The Last Ride
Guardians Of Metal
The Quest Goes Ever On... - The Endless Quest Chapter Two

Album Description

Created in the year 2000, PHENIX is a heavy-metal band from nearby Montbéliard (France). It is composed of Sébastien TREVE and Olivier GARNIER for guitars, Anthony PHELIPPEAU for bass, Eric BREZARD-OUDOT for drums and Bertrand GRAMOND for vocals. Their originality is the result of a meeting between five different musical sensitivenesses. The music of this line-up is a mix of creation and various influences of the band's members, from IRON MAIDEN to DREAM THEATER, from MANOWAR to Steve VAI. The association of these various musical horizons gives PHENIX a proper atmosphere where powerful riffs meet melodies and arpeggios. The term "Progressive rock" is not so far, even if the band is above all heavy-metal. Encouraged by the favourable reviews earned by the first album "Sacred Fire" (2002), the musicians spent two years of hard work, in order to produce an even better follow-up. And this resulted in the excellent "Wings Of Fire" (2004), once again published by the ! Brennus label. It noticeably contains the 17 minute-long epic suite "The Quest Goes Ever On... - The Endless Quest Chapter Two". Not to be missed !

Customer Reviews:

"Wings Of Fire"...Not All That Hot!.......2006-08-11

OK, another somewhat obscure band from the French metal label Brennus I picked up recently.

These guys actually have another album that was released before this one called "Sacred Fire".

Although I have not heard that one yet, on "Wings Of Fire" PHENIX attempts to continue stretching out their fledgeling wings and make a mark in the metal world.

There was one standout feature about PHENIX to my ears...the guitars...they sound mean! They've got a dark scratch to them that's almost reminiscent of old death metal in a way. It's a bit like IMMOLATION with power metal style riffs. Very different indeed!

Also the strong suit of this group has got to be lead singer Bertrand Gramond. He's got one of those quintessential metal voices. Plug him into any band and they'll be better.

Bertrand however cannot completely save PHENIX from getting their blazing wings clipped (or soggy I guess if we're getting metaphorical) on "Wings Of Fire".

The real stumbling point for PHENIX begins with the opening two numbers on the album. "The Pilgrimage" is an instrumental intro that's over three minutes in length! *Yawn*...I'm already getting bored. Then after finally segueing into track two called "Babylon" (the first REAL song on the album), we get to keep napping, as it's nothing more than six plus minutes of very mid-tempo fodder with the over used Egyptian sounding power metal cliche'.

I don't know what it is about French metal bands or maybe the Brennus label itself, but it seems they have all got to realize that any metal album needs that big trademark kickstart. No matter what style of metal or rock you are into, when you put down that fist full of dollars and give your new disc that innaugural wind in the ol' CD player, you want ACTION! To me this is where PHENIX loses you, right from the get go. In ten minutes I already want to call it quits and go listen to something else.

But because I am ever curious (and because I dropped $15 for this thing!), we pressed on from the pillowy beginnings and hoped for a Jolt Cola cocktail after our relentless slumber.

Things do pick up from here with "Firewings" and "Trial By Fire" (how many butane lighters do you think these guys own between them all?), and although they do slow up again from time to time, PHENIX really does eventually play more aggressively than laid back on "Wings Of Fire".

But speed isn't everything, and no matter how much they quickened the pace, I just never finished being bored with the whole affair. There's so much music here! This disc has 13 tracks including the 18 minute fianle "The Quest Goes Ever On"...but unfortunately so do the mundane chords and hammered flat sound of this band.

Vocalist Gramond provides the only real scintilla this group possess at all and unless PHENIX is planning an accapella album specifically for him, they'd better figure out a way to sound more interesting in a hurry or all risk being reduced to one big pile of ashes themselves.

I was disappointed in this one a bunch. I did hear some good things about PHENIX before I bought "Wings Of Fire", but other than a few flickers here and there, I didn't really care for what I eventually heard from the band at all.

I'm quite certain album number three is on the way and in the works. Anybody want to bet the $15 I spent on this one that their next album will have the word "fire" in title? No? Oh well, I tried to get a refund any way I could.

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