Amon Sethis – The Queen with Golden Hair
Amon Sethis released their epic adventure The Queen with Golden Hair, on December 12, 2020. The third album for this French progressive power metal band.
The story surrounds the first female pharaoh of Egypt, and channels epic orchestration and power, progressive metal to tell the story. Amon Sethis assembles the following band members to accomplish this epic story: Julien Tournoud, on lead and backing vocals; Olivier Billoint, on lead and rhythm guitars; Eliott Tordo, on keyboards; Thierry Ventura, on bass; and Thierry Delvaux, on drums.
Any production this big must include collaborators. Amon Sethis includes: Angèle Macabiès, Emmanuelson, Mourad Guirari, Ma Sarah, and Lucie Vételé.
Anything this epic, must include massive amounts of orchestration and drama. Amon Sethis employs a massive amount of orchestration on this album as well.
The Queen with Golden Hair, opens with an epic start, “The Legacy from the Past”. It is full of orchestration and Julien Tournoud’s first vocal sounds. Hard to compare his vocals to anyone else. His vocals are not as distinctive, despite good power and projected emotion.
From there, the band uses narration and music to bring the story to life. The music and orchestration is full of imagination and emotion. The lyrics and vocals are at times, overwhelmed by the music. But it is wonderful and powerful music, befitting a royal story.
The real stand-out tracks include: “The Legacy from the Past”, which has a wonderful, regal opening.
“The Conspiracy”, with its bold, orchestrated opening, is very good.
“The Secret Letter”, has some powerful heavy guitar, which is memorable. The drumming is excellent on this track and it is well supported with strings.
“The Rise of Aoutef’s Army”, has a regal opening. But the rest of Tournoud’s vocals drown out the great music on this track.
When Julien Tournoud is not shouting, his vocals are not bad. When he screams, all content is lost.
“Mask of Wrath”, has a very powerful orchestrated opening, which is one of the best on the album. Then Tournoud starts singing…
“Eternal Love”, has a wonderful keyboard and strings opening. Wonderful female vocals, then Tournoud starts singing…Still probably the best song on the album.
“From Dust to The Stars”, has some wonderful string orchestration at its opening. The music is great, but Tournoud, just has to scream…The female vocals are perfect. Wish there were more.
“And Then Comes the Rain”, has wonderful orchestration and choir singing towards its end.
Overall, the music is good on this album, but the vocals are sometimes drowned out by the music. Other times, the vocals drown out the music. The orchestration is excellent. It is only when : Julien Tournoud, begins to yell that the quality of the production declines.
The strings and orchestration, guitar work, bass and drums are very good. This is nonetheless an epic tale that you may enjoy, full of historical content. If you can listen through the screaming to the wonderful orchestration, then you may enjoy this album.
One of the best ever Egyptian musical presentations of progressive rock, was Clive Nolan’s Caamora. They actually presented the final composition live. The orchestral presentation was amazing.
In my opinion, get Clive Nolan’s Caamora instead. I think you will be much happier. You won’t be screamed at as much.
TRACK LISTING:
01. The Legacy from The Past – 2:52
02. Nitocris The Queen with Golden Hair – 5:11
03. My Sister, My Love, My Pharaoh – 4:22
04. The Conspiracy – 7:00
05. The Secret Letter – 4:56
06. The Rise of Aoutef’s Army – 4:19
07. Lost in The West – 4:35
08. Desert Storm – 4:25
09. Osiris God Of the Dead – 4:28
10. Mask of Wrath – 4:17
11. By the Torture – 5:50
12. Eternal Love – 5:11
13. The Blood Red Temple – 4:46
14. From Dust to The Stars – 9:59
15. And Then Comes the Rain – 6:07
https://www.facebook.com/Amon.Sethis/
https://amonsethis.bandcamp.com/album/part-0-nitocris-the-queen-with-golden-hair