Dragon Guardian
Destiny of the Sacred Kingdom

Dragon Guardian is what they call themselves, this japanese band led by a brave man named Arther. They do tell a story of fire and ice and this album which is a translated one from a japanese title and also previously released under their own steam is a part of this tale of fire and ice. It has a really nice album cover artwork which makes you think in the direction of some italians who loves dragons and icy warriors and such things. They also draw into attention the finns from whom I also believe they have taken some inspiration as well as from said italians. It is also always intriguing to get to know bands from stranger shores which Japan certainly can be said to be, I know some japanese bands from before but I cannot say that any of those has impressed me much so let us see if Dragon Guardian can change that.

Musically it sounds very european and makes me think of the leading finns or italians, it is a bit grande a bit neo-classical with some baroque elements to it, fairly restrained guitar soloing is a good thing as well. It is well produced with a clean and impressive sound and the tempo is of the higher stylings which may take away a little from the overall impression of variation and grandeur. The playing time is also sensible with around 44 minutes divided into ten tracks on the CD, and overall I would say that this album gives out an impression of being a quality product. It is epic with a conceptual story that is being well told also in the regard that it does not detract too much from the songs for those not that much into epic storytelling music, high quality I would say that it is.

It is an enjoyable album, the songs are all strong and none stand out in a negative way. Sure there are no real standout track in the other direction either but Treasure Land and the title tracks are fairly memorable songs that I am sure no fan of power metal can discard. So I think that if you like power metal of the somewhat symphonic and epic kind you will most likely enjoy this album, if not I don’t think you will become a new fan of this band or the genre. They are good but their music feels a bit common and a bit of depth and power is lost in their high speed approach on the tempo side, not any big problems to be honest but still things that makes this album less good than it could have been.

So, if you are a fan of the genre I presume that you will be of these guys as well because this is an entertaining album and I have enjoyed listening to it and I would also say that it is better than any japanese band’s album I have heard before. So maybe not for anyone but for the fan of the genre it will be a treat.

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