| Comments:
Divefire formed in the Spring of 2004 with the collaboration of
Finnish composer and drummer, Jani Stefanovic, and vocalist Christian
Rivel (Narnia). Jani Stefanovic has been playing and touring with
the bands Am I Blood, Sins of Omission and Renascent. The music
is in the Melodic Metal category with the twist of Christianity.
Glory Thy Name is refreshing because it actually has music
mean something, after having been smothered with pentagrams, death
screams and evil lyrics in 99 percent of the metal recently reviewed.
Stefanovic shines as he handles the rhythm and lead guitar parts
and delivers heavy riffs, speedy solos and great melodies throughout.
His best of the lot are solos on “Never Surrender,”
“The Spirit,” and “Pay It Forward.”
Stefanovic
also plays some mean keyboards as well. While the lyrics are wonderfully
devotional, the vocals of label boss Christian Rivel are only fair,
and the drums are, at best, average. Andreas Olssen does well with
a solid bass performance from start to finish. As far as the best
song goes, “Out Of the Darkness,” is easily the crème
of the crop and stacks up to any song recently released in the genre.
Glory
Thy Name is a solid effort, but unfortunately it does not measure
as strongly as others in the symphonic neo-classical metal category
like Ghost Machinery, Memorized Dreams or the super group Artension.
Maybe it would be fair if we should judge it against all other “Christian”
rock/metal bands because, in that light, it would obviously fair
much better.
Members:
Jani Stefanovic - Drums, Guitars, & Keyboards, Christian Rivel
- Lead & Backing Vocals, Andreas Olsson - Bass |