Almanac – Tsar

 Label: Nuclear Blast   Playing Time: 53 Min   Release: 19.03.2016

After the dismissal of the long-term Rage line up, Almanac has become the new band of Viktor Smolski. Besides himself, Almanac features also Andy B. Franck (Brainstorm and others), David Readman (PinkCream69) and Jeannette Marchewka (Lingua Mortis Orchestra) as vocalists.

The songs on “Tsar” are quite similar to the last Lingua Mortis Orchestra album, which was written by Viktor. In fact, they are perhaps a bit less orchestrated, but as complex and multi-layered as the “LMO” tracks. Yet besides complexity, Viktor also knows how to write astonishing melodies and choruses. On “Tsar” he proves it with ‘Self-Blinded Eyes’, ‘Hands are Tied’ and ‘Children of the Future’. These songs can even compete with the best “LMO” songs. The remaining 5 tracks are quite well-done, but the cannot really keep this high level. This makes “Tsar” a good album, although there is still a bit of space for future improvements.

www.almanac.band