The songs range from heavy head-banging tunes to more progressive, melodic tracks. The vocals are both rugged and harmonic with several tracks switching between a gruff growl and clean diction, which in turn make the songs less repetitive and more diverse as they progress. The guitars chug along in an almost crushing matter, which also adds to the dramatic atmosphere of each song.
While most bands tend to overuse the keyboards or synth effects when recording — and also mix the keyboard tracks louder than the guitar — Cloudscape avoids this, using the keyboard sparingly and mixing it well when they do.
Like the other albums the band has released, the guitar riffs are both heavy and groovy. The solos are not as over the top as Dragonforce or as technical as Dream Theater, instead they are both simple and old school sounding power metal solos. Cloudscape doesnt try to impress you with guitar mastery or over the top vocal performances; they impress you with their ability to create songs that are easy to get into and fun to listen to.
There are 12 tracks on the album, the longest of them just over nine minutes.
The album opens up with Mind Diary, which greets you with a soothing piano piece which quickly turns into a tune created for mosh pits. The two singles follow after: Darkest Legacy, a dark atmospheric song with a catchy chorus and Cloak & Daggers, which bares a rather Mediterranean sound to it. Ritual of the Blade is another great song that defines the album with its catchy chorus and great riffs.
The album is by far the bands best release and continues their trademark style of dreamy and hazy keyboard passages with heavy, lowtuned guitars.
- Global Drama
While there are a few tracks that arent very memorable, and at points the album tends to feel as if it is dragging on, overall Global Drama is a great power metal album that should appeal to fans of Pagans Mind and other mainstream power metal bands.
