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I just started twirling Children of the Void from the Canadian band Karkaos. Well, hells bells, this beat hitting my sound system from the cold Atlantic shores seemingly delivers some déjà-vu mix of Avantasia and a healthy tot of Sirenia. A much more ballsy version, though, and Avantasia would have to come down from their lofty heights and add some serious friggin’ crunch to match that. The enigma however lies in the supposed weakness of the metal during these first minutes. Because the Canadian metal and rock community usually does have a pretty vicious bite to it. Even if it is relatively small on an international stage given the size of the place.  

And indeed, the somewhat poppy first Avantasia-goes-Sirenia impression very quickly fades away and the album starts to kick ass seriously. Even if the synthie loving style employed by the more symphonically oriented community of the Power Metal universe never fully dies. And continues to raise its ugly head throughout the album, albeit with some serious steel claws attached. Later in the game – to my surprise – their tune takes a darker, much tougher turn, though. And starts to sail down these straits Arch Enemy took some time earlier – even if the choice of the vocal mix differs some.  [...]  Got hooked? Raid on...!