CORONA SKIES - Fragments Of Reality

January 17, 2017, 7 years ago

(Mighty Music)

Kelley Simms

Rating: 7.5

review heavy metal hard rock corona skies

CORONA SKIES - Fragments Of Reality

What a cool band name. I imagine myself looking up and seeing a sky full of beers! Although Finnish melodic rockers Corona Skies aren’t a household name in North America, they possess a global sound. On its debut full-length album, Fragments Of Reality, Corona Skies deliver an incredible blend of power metal (of the German kind), classic hard rock, ’70s prog rock, symphonic metal and modern progressive metal in the vein of Marillion, Sonata Arctica, Edguy and Pain Of Salvation. After the cinematic instrumental opener “Rite Of Passage,” the talented sextet combine metallic riffs with lush keyboard melodies, heavenly vocal harmonies and a dynamic rhythm section with “Big Boys Blues.” Vocalist Oskari Salovaara has a great melodic range and is one of the highlights of the album possessing a voice reminiscent of Sonata Arctica’s Tony Kaako. The odd, discoteque-y “Delirium Disco” might turn some people off with its pulsating synth beats and creepy vibe, but it’s actually a fun tune full of catchy tongue-in-cheek humor similar to Edguy, Freedom Call and Freak Kitchen. 

The scorching “The Social Network” possesses a lively Alcatraz-esque vibe with its bouncy guitar/keyboard melodies. “Business Suits” changes dynamics with a slower pace with huge, uplifting vocal harmonies. Tracks entitled “Big Boys Blues’” and “Summer Bum” might be a turn off to some because of its cheesiness, but both tracks contain some fun elements including progressive melodies, reflective lyrics and huge choruses. Throughout the 43-minute runtime, there are tons of feel-good melodies, reflective lyrical ideas and familiar sounding melodies that sink into the brain. Hardened metalheads will probably scream “Cheese!” But damn if it isn’t great cheese. The complaints would be the songs’ inconsistency, excessive and odd segments with a couple of fillers that doesn’t match the quality of some the other tracks. In conclusion, Fragments Of Reality is a very diverse album with courageous songwriting, rhythmic variation, tempo changes with loads of melody combined with shredding guitar leads and upbeat keyboard melodies.



Featured Video

KELEVRA - "The Distance"

KELEVRA - "The Distance"

Latest Reviews