Soulhunter. Nice artwork on the cover of Voice’s supposed fourth album. I was expecting something quite good of this German melodic power metal-band. I was however left disappointed after hearing a couple of their songs. Now, I understand it is hard to distinguish yourself from the pack as a power metal band, considering the riffs often look somewhat alike and the singer has to have a high-pitched voice, but still, Voice could’ve made a much better album, right?

Bands like MVP (not always Power metal, but in the same vicinity) and Ahrcana do manage to be an addition to the genre that is old school melodic power/heavy metal. I feel Voice doesn’t succeed for the following reasons: vocals, production, drums, and originality.

First, the latter. Voice lacks the defining bit of originality that makes a good band. Listening to Soulhunter you find yourself thinking it could’ve been just about every other power metal band. This is partly to blame on the production, for it is the production that defines a band’s specific sound. But Voice doesn’t have a specific sound. Every aspect, (guitar, drums, etc.) sounds a bit half-assed. The riffs sound too light, the drums don’t cut it, none of the instruments played define the music. Because of that it becomes boring; nothing stands out! And although they co-produced, it is probably not their fault for the most part.

Then the vocals. The singing on this album is powerless, the man just doesn’t have enough strength in his voice to carry the music. He can not give a really high-pitched voice or a good lower voice and his voice tends to quiver, which I find annoying. Vocally, this album is not adequate.

The percussion is up next. Jens Kuge, the drummer certainly is a decent drummer, but he doesn’t bring any originality in his drums. No double-bass drums, no defining touch, no original, surprising aspects. That is something I always find very brilliant about Skinlab, who’s musical genre is totally different of course, but you can bring ingenuity to any kind of music.

Of course it is not ALL bad news, there are a couple of songs that do sound nice, but three and a half out of nine is not going to cut it. In conclusion, it must be said that this album disappoints. Even if it isn’t all their own mistake (production), they themselves don’t bring any originality or ingenuity to the process, which makes Voice themselves the prime suspect. (And I didn’t even make an easy joke about the band`s name and it’s singer’s qualities).