“The Hardrock Haven Band of the Month is a band we firmly believe needs to be heard. Each month, one Hardrock Haven staff member has their opportunity to pick a band they feel is going to break soon; a band that is deserved of nationwide attention; and lastly, a band that just kicks ass.” … Derric Miller.

Standing alongside Sweden’s great metal bands Dream Evil, In Flames, Katatonia, Lost Horizon and Hammerfall comes November's choice for Band of the Month, Crystal Eyes.

Formed in Boras, Sweden in 1992 to “keep the metal of the '80s alive,” by guitarists Mikael Dahl (who is also a member of the Judas Priest cover band “Defenders of the Faith,”) and Niklas Karlsson, after discovering a mutual passion for heavy metal and a Judas Priest addiction. Joining them was bassist Christian Gunnarsson and the following year came the addition of drummer Frederick Grondahl with their first demo released in the spring of 1993. 1995 almost saw the disbanding of Crystal Eyes with everyone but guitarist Mikael Dahl leaving and joining other projects. After a search for new members was complete, their second demo The Shadowed Path was released to solid reviews and also saw the band making their first live appearance opening for Blind Guardian in October of 1996.

In 1997 with a solid lineup firmly in place, Crystal Eyes set forth to lay down their heavy tracks with the release of their third demo, The Final Sign. Excellent sales of this prompted the band to release their fourth demo The Dragon’s Lair. October of 1998 finally saw Crystal Eyes signing with their first label, Germany’s Crazy Life Music and their debut CD, World Of Black and Silver was released in April of 1999. Subsequent releases would include 2000’s In Silence They March, 2003’s Vengeance Descending and 2005’s Confessions of the Maker. Dead City Dreaming the band’s latest, brilliant studio CD released in November of 2007, is pure melodic power metal, this go around with ex-Twinspirits vocalist Soren Nico Adamsen taking over the lead vocal slot.

A better description can be said that Crystal Eyes are indeed everything that is good about power metal. Taking the sounds of Masterplan, Evergrey, Savatage, Redemption and some tracks resembling the excellent Riverside, the boys of Crystal Eyes newest CD is chock full of polished tracks with well-written lyrics and tight musicianship, all of which add up to what is sure to become a metal lover’s wet dream.

God Almighty the guitars of Mikael Dahl and the newest member of the band, the monster of a talent Pal Petterssen, scream. And holy hell, the voice of Nico Adamsen -- words fail as you try to express the range, power and flair that this singer possesses. Sounding like Grim Reaper’s Steve Grimmett, Rob Halford, Geoff Tate and in parts Ronnie James Dio, Nico sings his heart out. Bassist Claes Wikander and drummer Stefan Svantesson take no prisoners with a concrete, relentless but solid rhythm delivery. Crystal Eyes has the unique ability to latch on to the track, and through their individual flair they weave an intricate pattern of lyrics and sound. (Truly evident on “Highland Revenge,” the wicked “Mr. Failure,” the full sounding “Metal Crusade,” the orchestral “Oblivion in the Visionary World,” and the vocals on “The Wizard’s Apprentice,” are heart stopping, all from Vengeance Descending.) The pomp and flair epic with the Eddie Van Halen sounding guitars on “Battlefield,” and the hard rocking title track, “Dead City Dreaming,” plus the CD’s highlights “Dawn Dancer,” “Narrow Mind,” “Battlefield,” and “Into The Light,” all from Dead City Dreaming, will immediately convince even the most die hard metalhead that this is a band to reckon with.

With the group’s new label, Heavy Fidelity working hard at getting the band some much needed promotion and the re-releasing their first two albums, Crystal Eyes are set to take the metal world by storm. Although around for the better part of 15 years Crystal Eyes have consistently shown us with each of their releases that at the center of their music is the one definitive element that makes a great metal band -- a passion for writing, playing and recording the kind of metal that will never go out of style. With this kind of attitude, and surrounded by the lineup that is in place, vocalist Nico Adamsen, guitarists Mikael Dahl and Pal Pettersonn, bassist Claes Wikander and drummer Stefan Svantesson, Crystal Eyes have a future that can only get better with time.

The artwork on the band's releases is also worth mentioning. From their earliest World of Black and Silver each exudes images of fantasy, dreams and wonder. The most remarkable of which is the cover to 2005’s Confessions of the Maker. An almost hypnotic album cover, it depicts the surreal image of a single hand seemingly coming down from the clouds holding the lifeless body of a chained man, with a backdrop of black, gray and blue. The band holds the gift of perfectly bringing the image that would come with each of their album’s names and wanting that wording to come to life through visually imagery, imagination, and color.

A recent e-mail from guitarist Mikael Dahl quotes the following upon being told they have been selected as November's Band of the Month: “After 15 years as a band it’s just great to get this kind of award. It’s an honor to be chosen and hopefully some new Metal Heads can discover Crystal Eyes.”

Do yourself a favor, take a listen to Crystal Eyes, and prepare for a headbanging experience.

www.crystaleyes.net