The Flashcards: Lord Symphony - The End of Time (2016)

60/100

An album that serves as a symbol of decline and the final curtain for Lord Symphony's career? Looking at their activity—which has essentially circled back to just two albums, padded out with remixes and the like—it certainly seems to be the case. A band that once felt explosive and fiercely aggressive has aged far too quickly. The epic themes seem to have completely vanished, and the synthesizer implementation fails to forge any distinct character. It isn't magical, it isn't modern or futuristic, let alone heroic—and there are no striking melodies to speak of, save for the instrumental track "Gate of Eternity." I also wouldn't even know which big names to cite as influences for this record.

Well, "For a Dream" still attempts to act as a hook, and "Lost Soul" is the only other track that offers any real promise. Yet only three tracks into the album, they bizarrely clump together three typical ballad-style songs: "Save Me," "Garden of Souls," and "Behind the Shadow of Lies." Crazy! Truly a death knell for Lord Symphony. They could have easily packed the tracklist with more pieces like "Gate of Eternity" if they felt executing instrumentals was a better optimization, or... Come on... You are my pride when it comes to Indonesian power metal. You can do something much better.

That is pretty much the state of Lord Symphony's third album. Who knows what stifles the productivity and creativity of local bands aside from economic factors. Perhaps in this band's case, they aimed for a European power metal sound, but the end result remains half-baked. I highly doubt we will ever see any new material from them again.

That's all.

Tracklist:

1. For a Dream

2. The End of Time

3. Lost Soul

4. Save Me

5. Garden of Souls

6. Behind the Shadow of Lies

7. Gate of Infinity

8. Behind the Shadow of Lies (piano version)

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