Quite good demo from Logar' s Diary, band from Berlin devoted to a power-symphonic metal with relevant qualities. Actually, the demo cd is a self-produced full-lenght with a very good graphic presentation and an awesome production (I' ve heard far worse things relased from "great" labels).

Let's start from the good things: the mix of Blind Guardian, Running Wild, Rhapsody and company is quite original, though all the inspirators are clearly recognizable. The record offers variations enough to avoid boredom, balancing between up-tempos (the opener "Lonely On The Serpent River"), mid-tempos ("Barterstown") and a couple of interesting shots of atmosphere ("Ti'An").

The guitar-work is pretty good (most of all the lead guitars by Christoph Uhl) and on the acoustics you can distinguish a precision and a good taste not so common in a period when everyone tries to run as fast as possible. Then, the medieval flavour of keys and guitars is very strong and an episode like "King's Hall" could have been in a Falconer album.

Well, now let's talk about bad things: the drum-machine is not the best in a power metal album and even if here it has been programmed decently it flattens the final result. The vocals of Hagen Hirschmann are good, but too often he tries to go where he can't go; too often the vocals are not harmonized with the music, creating a weird effect.

Last but not least, the backing vocals have not been produced in the right way and the voices lack cohesion. In any case, some things come with a reasonable budget and a professional studio, some others with experience.

The value of the product, compared also to the price of the demo, makes me raise my thumb, but with some hesitation. I am not the kind of reviewer saying "fire you singer", but I think the first thing to do is to mend the vocal lines. Come on guys, the goal is near!

70/100 points

- Review by Benzo

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