Beautiful Sin - The Unexpected (2006) - Promising project - 72% (17/10/10)

"The unexpected", well, it is true that you can't expect that you only have thirty-three minutes of a brand new band's music if you buy an album at the full price. If we don't consider the Japanese and European bonus tracks on the limited edition (that I wasn't able to purchase when I was once looking for this album) as well as two experimental instrumental tracks that are surely well done but still two fillers and the first song "Lost" that is a remake or cover version of Helloween's "The departed (sun is going down)", you do not even have thirty-three minutes of music on this album.

And that's a sad thing because this group is quite interesting. Singer Magali Luyten doesn't sound like an average gothic opera singer, but she has a very unique, charismatic and powerful voice. With Axel Mackenrott, the band has surely a brilliant keyboarder who is doing an excellent job throughout the whole album and has the biggest presence on the record, maybe even a little bit too much with the two instrumental tracks. Jorn Viggo Lofstad plays some very harmonic and melodic guitar chords and is doing a very well job but nothing unexpected. The bass player Steinar Krokmo isn't that much audible and less convincing. The greatest deception is maybe the work of Uli Kusch who has proven in his career that he is able to write excellent and catchy songs and do a very unique and tight drumming, but he put many fillers on the album of his new project and doesn't do something particular surprising or innovating on this album.

Well, the thirty-three minutes that are left on this album presents mostly very good material. The most surprising thing is that here is not even a filler track within this material. There are a few surprising and diversified songs like "The spark of ignition" with interesting sounds and changes in style, classical symphonic power metal songs like the very catchy but not that original "This is not the original dream" or heavier stuff like the quite interesting and unusual "Pechvogel". "Metalwaves" is a majestic and heavy hymn that combines the diversified styles and sounds that the band presented before towards the end of the album.

If the band would have decided to create some more songs, forget about the instrumental fillers and the cover version, this album could have been a successful killer record. The talent is surely there and the band has already found a certain personal style and doesn't sound exactly like anything else. This album could please to symphonic metal and gothic fans, but also to fans of power metal or even good hard rock. There are a lot of fan bases to reach with this record but it is a sad thing that the band has only a project character and that the musicians didn't take the time to focus on larger and better song writing. This album came out more than four years ago and since then, we didn't hear anything new or interesting from the band and this is a sad thing. I would especially have liked to hear more from Magali Luyten and Axel Mackenrott and also from Uli Kusch who has somehow gone down under after this record. Let's hope that he didn't forget about this interesting project he began.

This first album makes me hope that there is more to come from this band even if I can't give such a high rating for the whole work because of its short length and some filler material.