Voyager – Fearless in Love

You can read this post in: Português

The Australian prog metal band Voyager is back with their 8th album, “Fearless in Love”, a fascinating prog metal and synthpop combination released by Season of Mist. Featuring Daniel “Danny” Estrin on vocals and keyboards, Simone Dow and Scott Kay on guitars, Alex Canion on bass and Ashley Doodkorte on drums, the group deliver an exceptionally good job with a cinematic and dramatic atmosphere.

“Fearless in Love” opens with “The Best Intentions,” a playful and lighthearted song, blending neo-prog with a dash of AOR, just like a Genesis soundtrack for “Guardians of the Galaxy”. “Prince Of Fire” is energetic and vibrant, with Danny’s strong and dramatic vocals and the keyboards evoking ’80s pop elements in a Stratovarius-esque prog version. Also notable is “Ultraviolet”, with vocalist Sean Harmanis from Make Them Suffer. It combines new wave, prog metal and metalcore, with breakdowns and constant tempo changes, into a complex and striking song.

It continues exploring electronic and pop flavors with “Dreamer,” an unusual match of The Human League, Yes and Deftones. The follow-up song, “The Lamenting,” is a catchy arena rock gem with a hooky chorus merging pop with over-the-top metal overtones. The Dream Theater’s Awake influence is palpable in “Submarine”, picking up on the neo-prog vibe from earlier in the album. It’s a pop, rock, and metal song, with a pinch of nostalgia for 80s movie soundtracks. In “Promise”, the eighties synthpop and new wave are embraced again, resulting in a more “commercial” and focused on vocals.

In “Twisted”, the band incorporates modern synthpop elements with heavy metal parts, making a simple and fruity song. “Daydream” is pop and energetic, highlighting the synths and vocals. “Listen” is a very electronic pop-oriented, but it shows a very boring repetition used until exhaustion since the first song.  “Gren (Fearless in Love)” concludes the album with some good ideas and rhythm.

“Fearless in Love” is a good metal album overall, particularly enjoyable for non-fans of the genre. Their participation in Eurovision, which bears a complicated relationship towards metal, reflects the more pop and simplified approach of the band’s compositions and its acceptance . The repetitiveness of the themes, however, get exhausting after a careful listening of all work. Nevertheless, “Fearless in Love” is an excellent choice to listen to or introduce to anyone looking for a pop-metal meeting.