I was telling you last year that among all-female metal bands Aldious is my favorite. At first it would seem like image had something to do with it (and I'm telling you, it has NOTHINg to do with it) but they are great musicians. Since I read some reviews on their debut, Deep Exceed, I realises this was not going to be like your average power metal band.

You look at them and you see girls wearing colorful  dresses, tiaras and whatnot and yet they do not fail to deliver this fast and, aggresive? Nope, I'm going to go with cute and sweet. LOL. But you know what I mean, happy (and fast) riffs, catchy melodies, clean singing, love and fantasy themes.

You can also hear the influence of J-pop in some of their songs, because well, Japan is flooded with that. You have the typical piano accompanied song and the soft and melodious passages, but there is always the strong presence of drums and the energy of guitars. Their first and second full lenghts are marked by Rami's voice, which is extremey powerful to say the least. However, 2012 marked her departure due to health issues and she was replaced by Re:NO (god only knows what does that even mean LOL). It's not like she has a bad voice, but it's a lot softer than Rami's voice, no shrillness in her voice but you production seems to be pushing her voice a lot, affecting the overall deliverance of the band. And that's how District Zero was and ok album, but that could have been better. Way better.

Aldious is still a young metal act that has time to grow and learn from their mistakes in order to continue delivering high quality pwer metal that can only be found in Japan. So far they have release 1 EP, 4 singles, 1 DVD and 3 full lenght albums and their current line-up consists of:

I was telling you the other day about my weird quest for all girl metal bands. It was a really weird quest as it seems that girls are getting into the metal scene nowadays more than before. Well it found also rock bands but we'll discuss that later (maybe never). One of these bands I found was this: Cyntia. A very young band formed in 2011 playing power metal. Since I began my journey and starting with Aldious it seemed that I do like power metal, but only when it is performed by girls. Why? It's because I cannot tolerate male vocalists doing those horrible high pitched vocals.

Girls are basically on the other side. I mean, there are high pitched vocals (they are from Japan after all), but hight pitched voices and women do get along. They have released two full length albums so far: Endless World and Lady Made. Whereas in Endless World they did a little more experimentation they decided to aim for the power metal route on this album. Which is fine, it suits them. The last album had a heavier vibe to it. If they do continue down this road they might improve a lot, even if their fame and fortunes is based mainly in their image. It is a great album, but not perfect. Again, it lacks originality.

However they album is not disappointing at all and it might attract a larger audience into the metal scene. It's not like you begin with Cyntia and then continue with Dark Funeral, but you have to start somewhere, right?

My favorite tracks: IV and Lady Made. And now a little video (it's a fucking sample) for you to watch them in case that huge album cover is not enough... LOL.

Production is flawless and there is aclear heavy metal vibe a la Mötorhead that does not leave their kawaii personality. Riffs are really catchy power metal-esque and drummming is fast and heavy. Vocals fit perfect here, and you can even hear the bass clearly. So what's worng with this? Because something has to be wrong. It is the lack of originality in music. It is quite an innovation in image but there is nothing really new about their music. That does not make them bad, just not the best. 

That's pretty much all, so i¿ll tell you what my favorite tracks are: Skykiller, Lifer 13, Sword of Avenger, and Fenixx.

Maybe later this week I'll tell you about what I found on my quest for all-girl metal bands.