Masterful vocals - A review of Sascha Paeth's Masters of Ceremony's Signs of Wings

Sascha Paeth is a guitarist but he is first and foremost known as a producer. Name any significant European power metal band and you will realize that he has produced at least one of their records: After Forever, Ayreon, Brainstorm, Epica, Freedom Call, Gamma Ray, Mob Rules, Rhapsody of Fire, Running Wild and Xandria are only a few of the bands he has worked with. He has developed particularly close ties with Tobias Sammet who is the mastermind behind Edguy and Avantasia. Inspired by the global success of the latter, Sascha Paeth has started writing his own songs and has now brought an international super group to life under the Masters of Ceremony banner. Album title Signs of Wings is an obvious allusion to Avantasia's famous hit single ''Dying for an Angel'' featuring Scorpions' Klaus Meine on lead vocals. A look at the line-up reveals that all musicians and singers involved except for keyboardist Corvin Bahn have already been involved with Avantasia as well. It's obvious that most people who are going to listen to this record, purchase it and even read this review are Avantasia fans.

If compared to the mighty Avantasia, there are a few differences and similarities to point out. A similarity is that Masters of Ceremony plays European power metal with a few minor gothic and symphonic metal influences. The musicianship is particularly skilled because everyone involved has lots of experience and talent. The production is also obviously the best you can get in the genre these days as it finds the right balance between being bombastic and being organic.

The most important difference is that Masters of Ceremony feels much more like a band than a project. It actually has a stable line-up and most importantly only one single lead singer. The song structures are short, focused and coherent with the longest track barely scratching the five-minute mark and each song being about four minutes long on average. The lyrics aren't intellectually challenging philosophical texts in a conceptual context but they rather stand on their own.

Despite a concise song writing, Sascha Paeth's doesn't have the same talent as Tobias Sammet when it comes to bombastic arrangements, catchy choruses and moving melodies. The songs on Signs of Wings are above average European power metal but they are lacking the spark that really makes them memorable or even unforgettable. There are some interesting ideas here and there such as epic, fast and melodic ''Where Would It Be'' that would make for a wonderful single candidate, melancholy piano ballad ''The Path'' that convinces with lots of feeling or modern, crunchy and aggressive ''Sick'' that might also appeal to metalcore and melodic death metal fans. If one lets the bigger picture sink in however, some tracks are rather unspectacular, repetitive and predictable.

There is one element however that really stands out. Adrienne Cowan is a phenomenal vocalist. If you have never heard of her before, keep her name on your mind. She will most certainly be featured as guest singer on numerous outputs in the future. If Nightwish ever needed a new singer again, she would be the best possible choice. I first heard of her as lead singer in international power metal group Light & Shade that released an outstanding debut record with The Essence of Everything three years ago. Since then, this energetic young woman seems to be everywhere at once and was particularly impressive on stage with Avantasia. If you have to compete with Bob Catley, Jorn Lande and Geoff Tate every single night but you end up being the most remarkable vocalist of the bunch, then you have a gift, a talent, a vocation only few people have. Adrienne Cowan has soulful clean vocals, powerful screams and gritty growls all at once. Her vocals are like a chameleon as they always adapt perfectly to the different atmospheres created by the instruments. Adrienne Cowan makes a slightly above average power metal album a very good release that is highly recommended to any power metal fan.

As you can see, Sascha Paeth's Masters of Ceremony is much more Adrienne Cowan's Masters of Ceremony to be honest. She might be the best female metal vocalist around as we speak. Listening to her alone is already worth purchasing this record. The musicianship is professional on here. The vocals however are extraordinary. Do yourself a favour and check out Light & Shade as well or any other record featuring Adrienne Cowan's vocals.

Final rating: 80%