Marius Danielsen's Legend of Valley Doom

Ok this is for the few who still frequent forums from time to time, who still can stomach european power metal, and still enjoy all star metal operas.... Maybe i`ll be alone in here .

I have readabout this but only bought thr CD a couple of weeks ago. It has an impressive list of members, and it`s a great album if you didn`t burn out on symphonic euro power when it was the thing many moons ago.





Here`s a review and some links:

Marius Danielsen's Legend Of Valley Doom - Marius Danielsen's Legend Of Valley Doom
Label : Crime Records | Archive under heavy / power metal

Release type: Full-length CD

Nima : After Avantasia, Aina and of course Ayreon, side projects with many guest musicians is of course not that original anymore, but that doesn’t make them less fun either. In Marius Danielsen’s Legend Of Valley Doom we have a new project that handles in that same direction. As the name already indicates this is a project from vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Marius Danielsen from Norwegian rockers Darkest Sins. Together with his brother Peter he has worked on this project for ten years, and honestly the result is not disappointing.

The music can’t be compared to that of Darkest Sins. What we have here is typical European melodic, (symphonic) power metal in the vein of bands such as Stratovarius, Dionysus, Fairyland, Iron Mask, Magic Kingdom, Angra (ok, they’re not European, but you get the picture) and of course Luca Turilli and Rhapsody Of Fire, and countless similar acts. In comparison with most bands in this genre the music is not that complex and rather standard, and quite easy listening. The excitement and diversity that distinguishes bands like for example Luca Turilli, Rhapsody or Magic Kingdom from many others is not realized here, but that doesn’t mean that it’s weak or less enjoyable. The compositions are well though-thorough, are immediately catchy, and above all make a lasting impression. The songs contain good riffs, catchy atmospheric keyboards, and there is an important role for solos and especially the vocals.

For this project Danielsen has definitely managed to get some of the finest musicians this genre has to offer (full list below), so that on both instrumental and vocal levels quality is guaranteed. I must say that not all tracks are as powerful, but all in all the album doesn’t contain any misfits or weak links. Besides that, the music also has a nostalgic charm, there we don’t hear this type of music that often nowadays. The excellent, clear and powerful production from Piet Sielck (Iron Savior, Savage Garden, Blind Guardian a.o.) ensures the music to come into its own completely, and the beautiful cover artwork completes the picture. Altogether Legend Of Valley Doom is a good and entertaining record that will surely apply to fans of melodic (symphonic) power metal. Outmost respect for Marius for managing this project and fully proving himself as a musician and as a composer.

Zang:
Marius Danielsen (Darkest Sins)
Edu Falaschi (ex-Angra, Almah)
Tim Ripper Owens (ex-Judas Priest, ex-Iced Earth, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen)
Mark Boals (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Mask, Royal Hunt)
Jonas Heidgert (Dragonland)
Elisa C. Martin (Hamka, ex-Dark Moor, ex-Fairyland)
Alessio Garavello (ex-Power Quest, A New Tomorrow)
Kai Somby (Intrigue)
Artur Almeida (Attick Demons)
George Tsalikis (Zandelle)
John Yelland (Disforia, Judicator)
Simon Byron (ex-Crystal Empire, Sunset)
Mikael Holst (Timeless Miracle)

Gitaar:
Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius, Avalon)
Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
Ross the Boss (ex-Manowar, DeathDealer)
Robb Weir (Tygers of Pan Tang)
Tobi Kersting (Orden Ogan)
Jimmy Hedlund (Falconer)
Marco Wriedt (Axxis, 21Octayne)
Olivier Lapauze (Heavenly)
Felipe (Twilight Force)
Alex TheKing Mele (Kaledon)
Esa Ahonen (Cryonic Temple)
Kristian Tjelle (ex-Nocturnal Illusion)
Gard Austrheim (My Decending Ark, ex-Fatty Sunroad)
Marius Danielsen (Darkest Sins)
Sigurd Kårstad (Darkest Sins)

Toetsen:
Peter Danielsen (Eunomia, Darkest Sins)
Alessio Lucatti (Vision Divine, Etherna)
Bassists: Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian)
Mike LePond (Symphony X)
Anniken Rasmussen (Darkest Sins)
Ignacio Lopez (Skiltron)
Giorgio Novarino (ex-Crystal Empire, ex-Bejelit)
Marius Danielsen (Darkest Sins)

Drums:
Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody of Fire)
Ludvig Pedersen (Darkest Sins)
Baroeg Rotterdam

81 / 100

If you want to buy it:

http://www.mariusdanielsen.com/

There's two of these albums now and I've been thinking of picking them both up.

Anybody have them? The list of guests is great.

I ordered them both from Danielsen's website. You get your copies signed and at least to me he wrote an email to say thanks.

But the list of guests on the Part II album is also amazing, and the reviews are great.

There's Kiske, Tim Owens, Blaze Bayley, Mark Boals, Jari Kainulainen and a million others. I am looking forward to adding these two albums to my collection. If you're not burnt out on power metal tropes, you might want to look into this project.

EDIT: it was the inclusion of Chris Caffery that sold me on this.

This does look cool, but I have to add to the want list after the last few Avantasia I am missing and the Allen Lande albums. Point being, it's gonna be a while before I gran this one.

After extensive listening of Part 1, I'm a fan. The vocal melodies especially are great, hooky. Owens got the best chorus to sing - "It's written in the old books, a savior will come. He will bring peace, he will bring freedom!"

"Chamber of Wisdom" is excellent too. "Haunting My Dreams" sounds like it could be a Twisted Tower Dire song. Very infectious guitar melody line, and verse. "Mirror of Truth" is very Maiden-ish. Like Fear of the Dark.

As for the guest vocalists, I think Mark Boals as the Dark Lord does a great job. The mix isn't all that great so sometimes vocals are not perfectly neat, but that gives it a rough edge a metal album does need. The Timeless Miracle guy is great, too. I should look into his work.

There are no weak tracks. I could deduct half a point for the mix and another half for the samey sounding guest vocalists. Don't get me wrong, quality is great throughout, but a lot of them I could categorise in the same style of singing. Luckily the booklet lists each part of each song and who sings where. I find it greatly helps me enjoy the music. And of course it helps you spot who plays which guitar solo and where. You get Caffery and Tolkki and a bunch of others showing their skills. And that Falconer guy.

Very interesting piece of music. I am looking forward to moving on to the second CD next week.

Haunting my dreams where are you taking me!?

That song is great.

Now there's a third part coming up and the first guest announced is... Arjen Lucassen!



That's a seal of quality to me.

It's the Legend of Valley Doom - and if you don't believe, then you can just leave



I'm sorry. I just love the artwork and the on-the-nose lyrics.


That's Mathias Blad from Falconer.

Part 3 will be out March 19th. Track list and guest musicians here:

https://crimerecords.no/releases/2021/marius-danielsen-legend-of-valley-doom-part-3

LOL at getting the actor that played Gimli to do the narration.

And a lyric video for a new song:

New song