Anyone out there remember Dungeon? They were Australia’s answer to Hammerfall and Stratovarius and from 1999 through 2006 they released a series of entertaining platters of heavy/power metal before calling it a day. Dungeon guitarist Stu Marshall went on to found his own entity called Empires of Eden and set out to follow the same template used by Tobias Sammet with his Avantasia project. Stu would do the writing, play multiple instruments, and then bring in a host of musical guests to do vocals and whatever else needed to be done. A lifetime ago in 2012, I covered their sophomore outing Channeling the Infinite in a review that to this day has yet to receive one lousy comment. Such is the musical isolation Australian metal bands endure.1 Channeling was decent enough for what it was with a few hits that still live happily on my playlists. I missed a 2015 follow-up completely, and now Stu and friends are back with fourth album Guardians of Time. The same template is in play again, with Stu shoehorning in as many vocalists and guitarists as he can, this time with many coming from other Australian acts. This means the relative star power is more modest here with fewer “big” names included. Can this kind of cut-and-paste all-star effort lead to a successful album? Place yer bets!
After a cookie-cutter intro, the title track sallies forth with a heavy power metal sound led by the ageless vocals of Rob Rock. Rob sounds fine as always, giving a forceful and spirited performance, and the song’s style is one that appeals to me on paper. Unfortunately, the writing feels like the definition of average. You won’t mind hearing it but it’s unlikely to stick or leave much of an impression. Things then switch to cheesy hard rock for “When Will It End,” and it’s a jarring jump. The song itself isn’t bad and the chorus is decent, as are the vocals by Darren Smith (Jake E. Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel). Again though, the writing is at the level of stock standard. This issue plagues Guardians from start to finish as styles shift and performers swap out. “Mortal Rites” is thrashy and heavy, sounding like Iced Earth collaborating with Death Angel and it’s a very modest highlight. “When the Beast Comes Out” features Sean Peck of Cage and if you squint really hard, you can imagine it being a lost track from Hell Destroyer, though it makes sense why it ended up getting lost. It’s just not very memorable.
The worst moment hits with “Stand United” which is a painfully cheesy power metal anthem badly undermined by the vocals from Tony Webster (Archetype, ex-Axemaster). His delivery is just so weak and wishy-washy that it makes the already uninspired song a real effort to get through. Add to these issues a pointlessly shreddy instrumental called “Arabian Nights” and 2 versions of “Baptise This Hell” when one would be entirely sufficient and you have an album that never finds its legs despite the talent involved. Worse, the shifting styles and revolving door vocalists make everything feel disjointed and devoid of cohesion. Avantasia works because Tobias Sammet usually appears alongside his various guest vocalists, thereby insuring a cohesive end product. There’s no disputing that Stu Marshall is a gifted guitarist, but his playing isn’t enough to make the album feel like the work of an actual band and not a mix tape of Aussie attractions. Guardians is also way too long at 52-plus minutes.
It’s rather pointless to opine on the various hits or misses of the guest vocalists and whether this guitarist or the other nailed a memorable solo. The big issue here is that the writing never exceeds serviceable and no song is sticky enough to become proper playlist fodder. That’s a step down from the last time I encountered Empires of Eden. If forced to pick the best moment it would be “August Runs Red” because it reminds me of Sweden’s 90s power-prog renaissance and the works of Tad Morose and Lefay, but even here the results are only moderately successful.
I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by Guardians of Time, but even with such muted expectations, I was underwhelmed. Stu Marshall can wail on a guitar and he’s demonstrated writing talent in the past, but this is an album full of recycled, uninspired power and heavy metal moments and it feels like a filler dumping ground. If I need guest-heavy ego metal projects, I’ll stick with the vastly superior Avantasia. In short, I shant be returning to this Eden no matter how many apples are offered.
Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Massacre
Website: facebook.com/empiresofeden
Releases Worldwide: November 15th, 2024
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