Album of the Week - Band: Arwen - Album: Illusions

[amir]

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Arwen - Illusions

We are conducting a community driven album of the week presentation. If you are a regular listener, please consider requesting a few tracks from the album mentioned on the title of this post. More details on how this idea developed is available in this thread:

http://www.epicrockradio.com/smf/index.php?topic=3879.0

You are also welcome to suggest albums for next weeks.
If you request a track from this album, please copy and paste the following message in the dedication box of the pop-up window.


**Album of the Week**
Arwen's "Illusions"

Head over and join in on the message board and learn more about the featured disc. And/or share your thoughts on "Illusions". Rock On!

More information on current Album of the Week:
Band: Arwen - Album: Illusions

Location in the library:
http://www.epicrockradio.com/playlist.php?start=200&limit=50&letter=A&search=

[i_am_fabio]

here's a review taken from www.metal-observer.com....

Arwen - Illusions (7,5/10) - Spain - 2004

Genre: Power Metal
Label: Arise Records
Playing time: 56:02
Band homepage: Arwen

Tracklist:

Into The...
Illusions
Riding Alone
Dance Of Souls
Infinity
Keltia
Fantasy Of Reality
No More Tears
By My Own Sight
One Reason To Live
Lullaby
Somewhere In The Past
Touch The Sky   


ARWEN, the second. After the a bit split debut ?Memories Of A Dream? in 2002 the Spaniards from Spain?s capital Madrid are back with ?Illusions? and they definitely have tried to mend the problems of the debut. For example singer Nacho Ruiz does not sound as blatantly like Andre Matos, but operates in a bit less high-pitched regions, which at least softens the very obvious ANGRA/SHAMAN comparisons of the debut a bit.

 They also increased the use of keyboards in their melodic Power Metal, with some spacy and also poppy effects, which nicely contrast the good and at times pretty heavy guitar work and also vocally we get a bit more variation, meaning that female singer Mamen Casta?o receives a bit more recognition, which definitely adds to the variety of the album, as she no longer stands in Nacho?s shadow as much.

 That is illustrated right off the bat in the duo ?Illusions? and ?Riding Alone?, the first one has Nacho in the centre point, in the second one Mamen and through this the band manages to establish different characteristics, which had been a bit under developed on the debut still. Also the combination of almost New Age like atmospheric sounds and tight rhythm and heavy guitar work works in favour of ARWEN, giving them an a bit more original touch, which the previous album still lacked, showing that the octet without a doubt is on the right way to earn their place in the symphonic corner of Power Metal.

 ?Illusions?, ?Dance Of Souls?, ?Infinity? (which with its Brazilian like rhythms at the beginning indeed reminds me of SHAMAN and ANGRA), ?Keltia? (a very nice unsappy ballad including violin and quite unusual melodies), all of them very multilayered compositions, which live off the interplay of contrasts, building up dynamics that many bands sorely lack. But even though they definitely have made a right step into the right direction and with that prove that they have what it takes to find their own sound, which already is worth quite something, they still have some work cut out for them.

 A consistent problem is that they cannot keep up the same level yet and with 13 songs maybe have recorded a bit too much material. I know, I usually complain about not getting enough, but sometimes a little less can be quite a bit more. Still a really good album that is not Columbus? egg yet, but at least tries very hard to break out of the usual standards, which I can and have to hold for ARWEN. (Online June 29, 2005)
 

[i_am_fabio]

..and here's a little info about the band..

Arwen started in the middle of 1996 by Jose A. Garrido (guitar) and Luis M. Hern?ndez ( bass) , following the idea to play modern & technical Heavy Metal.

In 1997 Nacho Ruiz joined the band as guitar/singer, later he was dedicated exclusively to the vocals. M. Carmen Casta?o joined the band as female singer ?cos the band need a sweet female voice for the backing vocals.

In 1999 Nacho Arriaga ( Drums ). Rosalva Alonso ( Keyboards ) y Alberto Avil?s are the new members in Arwen. With this line-up, the band started to develop their own sound . Arwen?s line - up is completed with a second keyboard player Jonathan Zapatero. This unusual line - up in a Heavy Metal band ( 8 members ) is due to the band?s intention to play all parts included in their songs ?cos Arwen don?t agree to play live with samples.

Arwen signed a deal with Arise Records in 2001, ``Memories Of A Dream?? will be their debut album which was recorded in May 2002. The band has recorded a Helloween?s cover which will be included in the album The Keepers Of Jericho Part II - A Tribute To Helloween - (Arise Records).

``Memories Of A Dream??presents a band with fresh ideas, an own sound & many things to say in the current metal scene.

After some gigs Jonathan Zapatero (keyboards) left the band and Javi D?ez took his place. The band started the recording of their second album in Summer 2004.
"Illusions" was the result of that intense work, the new album shows a more mature & personal sound then in their debut album.

The final result is better than any previous expectative about it. "Illusions" will be released on 12th November.


Arwen :
Nacho Ruiz: Vocals
Jose A. Garrido: Guitar
Alberto Avil?s: Guitar
Luis M. Hernandez : Bass
M. Carmen Casta?o : Backing Vocals
Rosalva Alonso : Keyboards
Nacho Arriaga : Drums
Javi D?ez - Keyboards

Discography:
Memories Of A Dream 2002
Illusions CD 12th Nov. 2004

[i_am_fabio]

..here's one more review of "Illusions" found from, www.tartareandesire.com..

Recently I picked up a CD by a band called Isengard. The album cover featured a massive stone structure with some people standing in front its portcullis. The back of the CD showed a fierce-looking dragon, all scales, boney spikes and jagged teeth. The album was in the bargain bin for $2 and I picked it up thinking I was going to hear some obscure metal band paying homage to all things Tolkein. What I heard was some horrendous bluesy rock band playing some of the worst songs I?ve ever heard in my entire life. What kind of trickery is this? You?re supposed to be a power metal band! I thought. Arwen, on the other hand, don?t fuck with the formula! They keep it real! This is what you would expect: power metal at its symphonic finest.
Arwen are clearly more interested in making great music than they are with royalty payments. With eight band members and no Slipknot-like gimmick I doubt they?re riding the money-wagon to the bank. What we essentially have is a great power metal band with male and female vocalists, both of whom sing and opt not to include the standard guttural male vocals. Accompanying them we have a double-dose of guitar and killer lead work, two keyboardists adding that big symphonic sound similar to Rhapsody, and a solid foundation of bass and drums.

The album features thirteen songs (one being an intro) ranging from the typical fast-paced power metal on songs like ?Illusions? and ?Fantasy and Reality? to a mid-paced almost rock sound on ?By My Own Sight? to the slow power ballad touches of ?Lullaby.? Oftentimes I?m reminded of Helloween while listening to this CD, if they only had a male and female singer. The choruses are big and catchy with that group vocal approach we hear on a lot of these types of albums. The songs average five minutes long and never get tiresome. The structuring is the rather typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-chorus stuff, but in the end the songs are strong enough to not even give that a second thought. And again, does that even matter? The song is what?s important, right? And there are good, quality songs aplenty here! And though the band is named after a character in the Lord Of The Rings novel, they aren?t a band?as far as I can tell?who write solely on the topic of Middle-Earth, like Finland?s Battlelore. And that eliminates the cheese factor, which is fortunate for the band because two band members are named Nacho.

[i_am_fabio]

..not many links for this band but here's a few that i was able to find..

bands homepage, http://www.arwenmetal.com/Flash/Flash/English/IntroMenuEnglish.html

When i first went to their page it said Nacho Ruiz leaves band! Looking for a new vocalist....go for it Amir! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvNzef7j6Pc <----here is a video featuring the song 'Riding Alone'. It's not a real video....but a Final Fantasy video with the song playing over the top. Still....a good one. 

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7511177/a/Illusions.htm <----this is just a link to CD Universe and where you an purchase the disc if you happen to love it.

[i_am_fabio]

an interview featured at www.metalstorm.ee

Arwen
With:  Jose A. Garrido [Guitars]  
Conducted by:  Malcolm  
Published:  18.12.2004  
 
- I know this is a little clich?, but can you introduce your band to our readers, at least for those that don't know about you yet?

Hi everyone. We are Arwen, a band who start in the end of 1996.
We are an eight member band who plays melodic metal, trying to make music by our souls and as fresh as possible.
We have edited our last album "Illusions". It is working very well, we are really happy about this, and we believe that this album have just arrived to your country. We hope you will like it.

- The reason why you're eight members in the band, is that only because you didn't want to play live with samples, or are there other reasons to?

The first reason to be an eight member band is the one you have said: play concerts with all the music in live, but in this last album we want to use this to make some parts more orchestral, in order to have two keyboard players because they don't play only chords. Another reason is to play with two different voices, the male one of Nacho Ruiz and the female one of Mamen Casta?o. Don't think that is like a fight between male aggressive voice and female lyric voice, we search other concepts; more melodic and trashed depends on the moment of the song, independently of the singer who is singing in this part. These are some reason to be an eight-member band. Another one is we play all the choirs recorded in the album.

- Isn't it hard to decide something for the band with (maybe) eight different thoughts?

I would lie to you if I said that is was false, and its very hard because we are eight members, and ever we talk about something, ever we match a draw. But anyway we try to be the most democratic we can, ever helped by the common idea that we want to make in "Illusions".

- Arwen have just lost one member since the start (if my information is correct), do you feel that the band got a good chemistry?

Many musicians have passed in Arwen before "Memories of a Dream". The one who have to leave the band in the middle of the tour was Jonathan Zapatero by professional matters, because he received and scholarship to study the orchestration complete career. He went to Londres to work and study, actually our relationship with him is the best we can. Before he had to go to Londres, he composed "Keltia" (track six of "Illusions") with Luisma Hern?ndez. We send our best wishes to him.

- Do you spend time together private too, or just with the band?

I think that cause we travel a lot and share so many emotions together we have a very strong friendship and it carry us to pass a lot of time together out of the band. For example, Luisma and I are friends since we was little boys, when we start listen music and living all who pass at the moment with the big bands of these years. It can be the very real birth of Arwen because in one moment of our lives we decide to make our own way and show your ideas to the people.

- You also joined Dark Moor, but what happen there really? I mean you're off the band less than a year after you joined.

Yes. You see, "Illusions" is all produced in "New Life Studios S.L." where we work as producer, and here was where "Illusions" was recorded, mixed and mastered. There was a moment in that I can't work to Arwen, New Life Studios and Dark Moor, then we have to choose. They said me there will be no problem but I know that one day I can?t work as I want to work, at 100%, and decided to leave Dark Moor. Today I still have a very strong friendship.

- Let's switch over against your new album, "Illusions" that just been released in whole Europe. I know it's a bit early, but how has the feedback been so far?

At now the album is carrying many good things, a very big acceptation and a lot of greeting emails from the fans.

The reviews of the album are being so much curious, cause the critic's can?t find any similar conclusion about this. But I think that is good for the band because we want not to be a "catalogued" group, but it is a little bit soon.

[i_am_fabio]

..interview continued..

-What do you think separate "Illusions" from "Memories..."?

We have searched different concepts for music and lyrics. "Illusions" contains more dramatic, aggressive moments and clearer, with the production we wanted. We want "Illusions" to have two faces:

1) Every song was completely different from the next.
2) When you hear one song in the radio or in a pub, you could recognize it like: "This is a song from Illusions."

We search another kinds of atmospheres, orchestrations based in winds, in strings and all this above Mamen, who have now other situation in the band, so much more important than the one she had in "Memories of a Dream", playing with Nacho by the moment the lyric of the song needs.

- I wrote in my review that it feels like the music is moving against a more progressive way, at least the songs that you written is more progressive, do you agree?

Perhaps, but we think that the change was by more aggressive songs neither than progressive. I have searched a special sound for the guitars that it could be the most aggressive possible but leaving space for the orchestration like in "Dance of Souls" or "Illusions". But for example, if you hear "Somewhere in the Past", you'll see that you said is exactly what happen, with a refrain by the kind of the Arwen ones. I think it depends on the song you choose.

- Mamen now sings three full songs, was that a request of her to get to sing more, or did you just think that her voice should fit better to those songs? I mean her part on "Memories?" was mostly just doing back vocals.

Well, she continued studying and, of course, now is a very better singer. We have some songs and moments in "Illusions" better to a female voice, as you can see.

- How does the future for Arwen looks like? Will you tour? If yes, will you tour the more Nordic countries, or will it just be around Spain? And how much have you been thinking of a successor to "Illusions"?

The future of Arwen seems to be good, we are so surprise and happy with the new album. We have a Spanish tour; some concerts of this one will be with "Evergrey". But to go out of Spain we need the help of the companies of the other countries because the situation of Spain is very bad, we can?t go out without a company that want us to play in his country.

- The Spanish Power (mostly) Metal scene is growing as never before, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's conquer with Finland as the leading country for the moment. What are your thoughts about the Spanish Metal scene?

It is so hard. The moment in Spain for music is living the worst moment in our story, money is not used to move the music now. Here the support of the society for the music is terrible, ridiculous, we can?t only live by the music and only think in create great albums.

- There's one subject that's larger than everything else in the music business now, and it's about downloading. What are your thoughts about it? Do you feel that Arwen suffered anything because of it?

I think that Internet is a marvellous way of communication and information, quick as no one. But the matter of the downloads is being used very bad. I think that if you want to buy one album but you want to hear it after buy it, you can download this album. But now people are downloading ALL albums they can, and it can hurt so much the bands and music in general. Well, in a case like if you live in a country where you can?t get the album that you want you have any other way to have it than to download it, I can understand it. But the way the people have chosen will drive we to the end of the industry, the bands will stop playing concerts and many of them will prefer to auto produce his own albums. We are not far away this moment.

- What bands/artists would you say that influenced you personally?

By myself I tell you musicians from John Williams, Danny Elfman and James Horner to Lorenna McKennit, Enya, Michael Jackson and Helloween, and of course, modern bands like Ark or Devin Townsend. You see that are some different influences but if you see my music collection we will have a lot of speaking (laughs).

- If you could categorize Arwen in a genre, what would you then call that genre?

I can?t catalogue Arwen but if I had to do it I think, perhaps, melodic metal with? I have no idea! (laughs). I can?t say it in two words, it so extensive, Arwen is Arwen.

- Finally, is there anything you want to add to this interview? Maybe tell our readers something? Or just add something that you feel I have forgotten?

Yes, I hope you hear "Illusions" and try to find the soul have this album; we have left our soul in it. If you can hear it with the lyrics to understand the message and enjoy it as we do.

- Thanks for taking some of your time and answer my questions. Good luck in the future, and I hope to hear much more greatness for you in the future.

Thank you Mikael (Metal Storm) for your time, the chance for us to make your people know the news of Arwen, to all our fans there and everyone who make this possible.

Thanks a lot, see you on Illusions Tour!!!

[amir]

OH MAN, you Fabio are non-stoppable metal information source, dude I really enjoy and appreciate your work.

When i first went to their page it said Nacho Ruiz leaves band! Looking for a new vocalist....go for it Amir!  Grin

LOL, sure, I will apply to see what happens

[i_am_fabio]

OH MAN, you Fabio are non-stoppable metal information source, dude I really enjoy and appreciate your work.

When i first went to their page it said Nacho Ruiz leaves band! Looking for a new vocalist....go for it Amir!  Grin

LOL, sure, I will apply to see what happens

  Glad to know that you appreciate it. And also glad to hear you may be the next Arwen Frontman.    

[lucas_broom]

For next week I've got a suggestion

Rhapsody- Legendary Tales

Rhapsodys' first album that they released in 1997 

[amir]

I think because of the holidays and to get a full coverage of the album we can go with a two weeks AOTW of Rhapsody's Legendary Tales. What you think? I will set up the thread now.