Kilmara – Journey To The Sun

Kilmara
Journey To The Sun
Label: RPM / Roar
Out: January 31^st, 2025
Playing time: 41:17 / Mit Bonus 50:55

Hailing from Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain), the Metal band Kilmara was founded in 2003. Before that, the band was on the road for four years under the name ‘Jadde’. Only guitarist John Portillo remains from the early days. While only one demo was released as Jadde, Kilmara’s debut album was released in 2007 under the name ‘Hunting Dreams’. Three further albums were released at regular intervals. But after 2018 (‘Across The Realm Of Time’), it was quiet around the band. It took seven years until the follow-up ‘Journey To The Sun’, which will be released at the end of January.

The intro ‘Point Of No Return’ starts off with relatively annoying synthesiser sounds more familiar from Electro-Pop. And without any sound pressure. In ‘Journey To The Sun’, the drums drive forward, sometimes with silenced double bass. But Power Metal? More like Melodic Electro-Rock. Daniel Ponce’s voice sounds pleasant, but it’s not until the refrain that something of a Metal feeling emerges. ‘Alliance Of The Free’ is mainstream Rock. At least there are some riffs here. And nice melodies. ‘Chances’ is also introduced by some riffs. But the melodic lead doesn’t really pull it off. Riffs and Tapestries of strings introduce ‘Liberticide’. Here the drums can be heard a little harder in the foreground. And there is a guitar solo. ‘Wildfire’ is then a real ray of hope. The drums and guitars are the driving force here. Daniel Ponce also belts out some Metal screams. This song can definitely be categorised as Power Metal. The same goes for ‘An Even Whole’. Although these two songs also lack a bit of sound volume. But with ‘Power Of The Mind’ the air is already a little out. OK, one or two nice guitar melodies. ‘Take Me Back’ is probably the album’s regular closing song. Here it picks up speed again at the beginning. But later we hear nothing more than an average Rock song. Even if the guitar solo enhances it a little. The next two songs are not explicitly declared as bonus tracks. But in my opinion, that’s exactly what they are. Firstly, the absolute low point of the album, the 8Bits keyboard version of ‘Journey To The Sun’ – just awful. Not on the track list in the press release, but the eleventh song in the promo is ‘Journey To The Rising Sun’. Despite the slightly different title, it’s the acoustic version of ‘Journey To The Sun’. And I really like it. One of the few highlights.

The album ‘Journey To The Sun’ leaves me somewhat confused. Every now and then there are hints of Power Metal, but for the most part we are in the realm of Melodic Rock. ‘Wildfire’, “An Even Whole” and the final acoustic version of “Journey To The Sun” ensure that it is not a complete failure. It’s hard to believe that the album was produced by Seeb Levermann (Orden Ogan). For long stretches, I miss the powerful sound for which he is generally known.

Kilmara – Chances: https://youtu.be/94c_UBDjq5E?si=d4utnM5CgPDvITVR

Lineup:

Daniel Ponce – Vocals
John Portillo – Guitars
Carles Salse – Guitars & Synths
Dídac Plà – Bass
Eric Killer – Drums

Track list:

• Point of No Return
• Journey To The Sun
• Alliance Of The Free
• Chances
• Liberticide
• Wildfire
• An Even Whole
• Power of the Mind
• Take Me Back
• Journey To The Sun (8 Bit version – Bonus)
• Journey To The Rising Sun (Bonus)