Angelwings - 'The Edge Of Innocence'

If Prog and Symphonic Metal had a child, it would be Angelwings.

Gibraltar band Angelwings, earned their musical wings as a Nightwish covers band before starting to write their own material. The result of that transition and experience gained on the live circuit is found here in their debut release.

'Wonderland' pulls out all the stops and illustrates what Angelwings are all about. This is a heavily orchestrated opus, filled with wondrous synth parts, choral vocals, intense heavy guitar riffs, soaring fluid solos and the icing on the cake, Davinia Cano's pure but powerful voice. Lyrically equally brilliant, the song takes us to a land of escapism full of castles, foreign lands and fantasy. Next up, 'The Fallen' gets heavier still and sees Davinia Cano's voice oozing soul whilst digging in and adding a gritty edge before fliting back to her bell-like tone.

'Nile Goddess' starts with a haunting piano piece by Glenn Cano that is then built upon by Paul Cano's guitar soloing. The track has an altogether different, Proggy feel with a commercial edge to it, and really is stunning! 'Game Of Life' retains this edge whilst adding a darker overtone and some freight train drumming from Mark Brooks. Slowing the pace comes 'Memories', it's still full of impact but on a Symphonic level. Somewhat of a surprise is 'Forbidden Love' with its distinctly AOR vibe; it's definitely one of the many high points here.



Listening to the Angelwings soundscape, production quality and track balance is excellent, and although you can pick out elements of Prog, Rock and Symphonic Metal, they are way more than the sum of these parts. 'Embracing Fantasy' is a great title for this epic track, an AOR sound overlaid with violins, choral padding, synths galore and, of course, Cano's storming voice. 'Lilith' pulls a harmonic-laden menacing guitar part together with more of Glenn Cano's keyboard work. Davinia Cano's voice is Rockier here, with purity put on the back burner. The following title track has a massive sound which ebbs and flows as it tells the story. Flavours of Marillion, Genesis, Mike Oldfield and even Robert Miles (RIP) can be found here.

Is this the future of Prog we are hearing? If Prog and Symphonic Metal had a child, it would be Angelwings! The bar has been set high on this debut, so the next release is going to have to reach for the stars!

Paul Sabin