Sunburst – “Fragments of Creation”

Sunburst artworkThe debut album from Greece’s Sunburst attempts to walk the line between prog metal and power metal. The problem with walking this line is that it can be a fine line and on “Fragments of Creation,” the band find it easier to be power metal most of the time. There’s a good reason for that since members of Sunburst are in the band Black Fate, who are quite similar but a bit more power metal than what is on this debut album.

The band are excellent players and not afraid to show off their abilities which is fine. They are damn good so why not? The problem on “Fragments of Creation” is that there’s a sameness to everything, even the soloing seems about the same throughout. The tempo of each track except for two is about the same. It isn’t until the ballad, “Lullaby” that the band slow things down. It’s predictable. Even the ballad has no surprises. You know what to expect. The one surprise was harsh vocals in “Break the Core,” but it wasn’t enough really.

The one track that I really enjoyed was the epic closer “Remedy Of My Heart.” It has a lot of things going on, it gets symphonic, there are actual changes on the track. Honestly, it’s the one track I’d call prog. But it’s not enough. Also, I wonder if I liked it more because it actually went somewhere versus covering the same old ground like the rest.

The band appear to be influenced by Symphony X, Pyramaze, Firewind and perhaps Dream Theater to a lesser extent. The good thing about Sunburst is they are excellent musicians, the vocals are also quite good. The production and mix on the album are stellar. But the songs however lack depth and feel repetitive. “Fragments of Creation” is a lot like running on a treadmill. There’s a lot of work involved but you never really get anywhere.

Rating: 5.5/10

1. Out of the World
2. Dementia
3. Symbol of Life
4. Reincarnation
5. Lullaby
6. End of the Game
7. Beyond the Darkest Sun
8. Forevermore
9. Break the Core
10. Remedy of my Heart

Label: Inner Wound Recordings

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