METALITE – A Virtual World

Pop Meets Power

Sweden’s Melodic Power Metal band Metalite releases their 3rd full length album on AFM records titled: A Virtual World. This is the second release featuring the vocal talents of Erica Ohlsson, whose voice stands strong throughout. The lineup retains founding guitarist Edwin Premberg along with Robert Örnesved (Castillion) on guitar, Lea Larsson (ex-Votur, Imber, ex-The Bullseye Dirt) on the drums and Robert Majd (Eddy Malm Band, Alpha Attakk, Captain Black Beard) playing the bass to round out this veteran band.

Lush Layers

Metalite – A Virtual World features a lush, wall of sound produced by Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Amaranthe), which has elements of Pop, Techno, Trance, Power Metal and Neo-Classical Metal all wrapped up in one neat package. The vocals are thickly layered with deep reverbs that make it feel like a modern Pop album, if you didn’t have the rapid-fire double bass drumming and shredding neo-classical guitar work to fill in the blanks. One test of a good mix is can you still hear the vocals clearly at any volume, and A Virtual World more than passes that test.

Top Tracks

The album features a lot of happy melodies in major keys, having the effect of being uplifting overall. The opening title track comes on strong with big melodies over a back and forth of galloping metal to driving double bass, add to that some excellent lead work and you have a great first track. “Talisman” offers some great synths layered over a straight driving beat, with big melodies and an anthemic chorus to hook you in. For even more Pop in your Metal there is “The Vampire Song” which sounds strangely joyful on the choruses, making it an obvious ear-worm.

Final Notes

When listening to the album in it’s entirety, you do notice a bit of sameness throughout which feels like it should be broke up with a little more variety. By the 10th track this listener was dying for something in a minor key. That said, with such great production values, strong melodies and overall performances, A Virtual World is definitely a good addition to any fans of Melodic Metal/Melodic Power Metal.

Lineup

Erica Ohlsson – Vocals
Edwin Premberg – Guitar
Robert Örnesved – Guitar
Lea Larsson – Drums
Robert Majd – Bass

A Virtual World – Tracklist

01 – A Virtual World
02 – Cloud Connected
03 – Talisman
04 – Beyond The Horizon
05 – Peacekeepers
06 – The Vampire Song
07 – We’re Like The Fire
08 – Artificial Intelligence
09 – Alone
10 – Running
11 – Synchronized