Tarot - Crows Fly Black
Good vocals go a long way.
Review by Sirus

Tarot is a Finnish Heavy Metal band that has been around for a while but I only recently discovered. Thanks to a little sampler from Nuclear Blast records, I had a track that ended up my favorite song on the entire CD, “Tides”. What really makes this CD shine is the vocals done by Marco Hietala who some metal fans will recognize from the more recent Nightwish CDs. The guitar work on the CD is quite catchy as well, at least in the songs that truly stand out.

The first song that stands out to me is “Ashes to the Stars”. The main chorus in the song says, “Spread my ashes to the stars; Fall forever in the dark.” The powerful vocals of Hietala make the chorus a lot more powerful than it would be otherwise. The second song I found noteworthy is “Before the Skies Come Down”. What I enjoy most about this song is how the vocal style used by Hietala is unique and less heavy than some of the other earlier songs that I didn’t enjoy as much. The guitar work in the song keeps it interesting even when the vocals stop.

“Tides” is by far the best track on the entire CD. I have always preferred ballads whenever present on a metal CD. In this case, the beginning of the song is a beautiful mixture of violin, piano, and vocals with a similar style to “Before the Skies Come Down.” “Tides” keeps the heavy fast guitar out of it completely and what guitar it has is nicely spaced in between slower sections. The more reserved guitar makes it easier to focus on the powerful vocals. “Howl” stands out as well because of its heavy use of acoustic guitar at the beginning. I enjoy the dark themes in the lyrics and the way the chorus uses the word howl at the beginning of ever sentence. The final song is a fitting end to such a powerful album. “Grey” sounds like it is telling the story of a man who has been turned into a zombie.

“Crows Fly Black” proves once again that in metal, like any other music, good vocals go a long way in raising a group or album above the rest. Marco Hietala has that sort of power in his vocals. I look forward to any of his future work both with Tarot and Nightwish. “Crows Fly Black” is a good CD with a few great songs that keep it from falling flat. The songs that I didn’t mention in my review are still good, just not great enough to make them stand out. If you are a fan of heavy metal and power metal bands like Nightwish, Kamelot, Dream Evil, Iron Maiden, Hammerfall, and many others, you will find a quality heavy metal experience in “Crows Fly Black”. Sadly it is a CD that is available only through imports from Europe so good luck finding it for a fair price.

Top Songs:
1. Tides
2. Howl
3. Before the Skies Come Down


Final Score: 8/10