SIGNUM REGIS
SIGNUM REGIS
Wikipedia tells me this is a band from Slovakia and somewhere back in my head I remember seeing something about them. They seem to be signed by my friends record label Ulterium Records.
I will not go down the path Christian bands vs secular. This will be judged as a band among all the gazillion bands out there. This is referred as the equivalent to Avantasia or Star One project due to hiring of different names to handle the vocal duties. I see that the legendary Göran Edman was featured on the first couple of albums, Wikipedia also mentions Mike Vescera both heard on Yngwie Malmsteen albums, so indeed quality names and Wikipedia lets us know that Matt Smith from Theocracy has appeared. Because of this I enter this with some expectations. Good singers. Surely, they hop on board a project that carries some weight?
Starting off with the debut
Signum Regis (2008)
Ok organ intro and bells, this bounds to be epic, or? Drum fill kicks off the first song and I’m hit with a full but a bit muffled guitar sound but overall the production feels decent after some quick getting used to the production. Ok this guy has a thing for pitch harmonics ala Zakk Wylde on this song which starts to annoy me after a while into the opening track. The slower lead part on the opening track sounds like an awkward Gary Moore(ish) section. Ok I have to admit. Signum Regis is not impressing me with this opening track. Now I feel a bit worried about the so praised Signum Regis. What will become of you 😎.
‘Bright days of glory’ when the vocals kick in on the verse, I get a very strong Yngwie ‘Fire and Ice’ vibe which is sounding kick ass. Göran is without a doubt a talented singer but the music does not pull me in. I feel there´s a few good moments here n there on the instrument side but more so on the vocal side of things. Just as a side note. Vocals alone can´t salvage a mediocre song or a bad song, it can prevent it from sinking completely but not turn it into something great if everything else isn´t great.
The Eyes Of Power (2010)
The intro does not convince me at all, feels really boring and nothing that pulls me in and to keep it at over 3 minutes makes it just a weird choice of an opening track, does not build up for the anticipation for what´s coming, at least not for me. Just too lengthy and boring. Second track kicks in and it picks up a bit better than the intro. This should´ve been the opening track. I think I recognize Göran on the opening track and like before his vocals are the strong point here. The opening riff is ok but there´s just something that is off-putting with the guitar rhythm work. They are sort of sitting well but still lacking something, a sense of groove and musicality. For me it´s way more than just hitting the right notes or keeping the tempo. You got to have an internal groove/musicality that makes it enjoyable. I get a very stale feel of all the guitar works likewise on the lead guitars. At times they are certainly pulling of some skillful stuff, but still when I’m coming from a school where I’ve been growing up with guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, Michael Romeo etc. It´s not enough that you can pull the challenging arpeggios down. I mean Yngwie Malmsteen is not the most polished guitarist, but insane technique and foremost his musicality and sense of tone is absolutely manna from heaven. One thing that disturbs me here is how the lead guitarist finishes/ comes out of a solo, the ending note is super important. The intro on ‘One fatal enterprise’, cool arpeggio stuff but the landing note lacks motion and vibrato and feels unmusical to me, you got to finish off strongly. But these are personal preferences, and something speaks to you or it doesn’t.
I´m realizing two albums in that I might not be the perfect target for this kind of power metal. My optimal power metal (prog) act is Symphony X, they have superb riffs like really cool riffing, able to carry a song on itself. Top that with awesome arrangements and best of best vocals. I remember hearing ‘The divine wings of tragedy’ for the first time like wow, what is this? Unheard in power metal bands at that time. What I like about them is their darker side of things. When it´s all just too happy I’m losing interest in that sort of bands. The musical aspect does not pull me in enough when it´s this traditional power metal unless you´re Yngwie Malmsteen heavily rooted in classical harmonies. On Signum Regis second album we continue with riffs remaining a bit too basic for me and uninspiring. It is not about being technical and difficult to play, not at all, but they just lack that spark that speaks to me.
Hmm, another odd one at the end with ‘Roma Aeterna’ running for 4:37, way too long and becomes quickly a filler when there´s really nothing not even the emotion and atmosphere to compensate for the lack of music wizardry.
Some parts on the album sticks out with really bad drum programming, which is even more off putting, so I’m having great difficulties with their second album. Not a strong follow up on the debut. For the most part this sounds really boring to me, some good parts here n there. But this is not a keeper for me personally.
Exodus (2013)
I really enjoy the intro on ‘The promised land’ the opening riff is really cool and this is the little finesse I was talking about, it´s not more difficult but it still makes it a bit more sustainable if thinking one would listen to the same album over and over. I was looking forward to hearing Vescera here but Vescera on this song is the least favorite I have heard with him. He was one of my absolute favorite Yngwie singers but at times with Signum his vibrato sounds really exaggerated and annoying, chill on the vibrato man 👀.
My favorite song on this album ‘Wrath of Pharaoh’ which I’ve listened to many times by now. The riffing is cool, the Judas Priest(esque) vocals are really cool and I really really like the chorus, love the vocal melody. The middle part with the rock guitar and the lead guitar part sort of ruins the song because it takes me away from that Pharaoh Egyptian feel of it, for me personally pentatonic rock scales does not go well with oriental side of music. Just once again personal preferences. But still the chorus alone makes this song my favorite on this album. I also like the ‘The Ten Plagues’, really like the vocals, a well written metal song. The lead section is really cool, and this is yet one example where you can clearly hear how they have improved on their instruments. Cool version of Helloween ‘Sole Survivor’.
All in all, a huge step up from the couple of first albums. The production feels really solid and is the best so far. The rack toms would´ve needed some attention, multiband compression to keep them better in place. They jump on you just a tiny bit at times. The kick drum would´ve needed some automation on some heave driven double bass passages, feels a bit loud at times and has inconsistencies across the album. Kicks, toms and even snare is something you need to go through for each song otherwise it will end up like this, where you experience the kick louder at times and then at times perfect. All in all, you can clearly hear that the band is getting better at their instruments by this album which helps and proves exactly what I’m talking about the sense of groove and feel in your playing. It´s more than just hitting the right notes. I´d say that this is a solid power metal album, with a bunch of good songs and stellar vocalists. If I’d suggest checking out Signum Regis, I’d say start with this album.
Chapter IV: The Reckoning (2015)
Jumping straight in after ‘Exodus’ the mix sounds a bit muffled and closed, can´t really distinguish the guitars. With super crisp Overheads and Hi hats that overpowers the kickdrum and snare and the overall drum mix is unbalanced. The kick feels boomy which leaves it sounding muffled and not so distinct. A little cut at the boomy area probably around 80-100Khz would´ve helped. The bass guitar sounds too subby and uncontrolled at times, very prominent in the song ‘The Magi’. Bass and the low-end is the most difficult part of a mix to control. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but the cymbal playing sounds very drum programs to me. Real drummer or not?
With songs like ‘The secret of the sea’ is just not my type of power metal I enjoy. The beginning of the lyrics and all is just not my cup of tea. Not finding the vocalist that enjoyable either. ‘The voice in the wilderness’ kicks off with a very Megadeth influenced type of riffing and the song has a cool solo in it. ‘Prophet of doom’ is continuing on the hero(esque) vibe which I’m having problems digesting. Bits and pieces are enjoyable to me like the chorus of ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’ beautiful first half of ‘Bells are tolling’. Some of the lyrics felt quite forced and not sitting well rhythmically, lacked a sense of natural flow. That´s the problem many times when bands site scripture for example or written poems that were not meant for singing. Total verdict is that this fell a bit flat after ‘Exodus’
Decennium Primum (2017)
Kicks off with a calm beautiful intro that is ruined but a tacky guitar lead work, which is out of tune and lacks a suitable feel to it. To my disappointment they carried on with the same vocalist so would this turn out to be a letdown as well? Opening track with the middle acoustic part feels awkward and out of place, well played though, following arpeggio solo at 3:34 is really cool. ‘Damnatio Ad Bestias’ kicks in with some Megadeth riffing again at 2:30. The part that follows at 3:00 minutes is cool, and I wish they had more of this darker vibe to their songs. ‘Screaming for justice’ intro sounds promising but falls flat with a boring verse. At 3:09 the vocals sound very close to Dream Theater ‘Déjà vu’. The rock type of riffing like the intro on ‘The future King’ sound very misplaced in this context. ‘Well Deserved’ has some good moments.
This might be something that many totally disagrees with. But I’m not feeling the vocalist. He hits the notes, he sings in tune yes, but the melodies are super boring and unmusical for my liking. The feel I’m left with is that they don´t lead me anywhere.
I´m not being spiteful and speaking down on a band just to be mean and harsh. I´m just giving my spontaneous reactions to what I´m hearing. Once again many disagrees with me and this is just down their alley. My conclusion however is pretty obvious I guess that I’m not the target listener. This is not speaking to me. Could´ve been better at times if it had a different vocalist. The production was ok, at times problems with a heavy uncontrolled bass but all in all a pretty good production.
The Seal Of A New World (2019)
Well this continues where we were left, happy and cheerful type of songs, the vocalist is different on the opening track and that was refreshing. Enjoyed this more. Good chorus on the opening track even if this is very happy in my book. ‘Prisoner´s Elegy’ intro is really cool and unexpected. The vocalist is really sounding good on that song, the right sounding rasp for my taste and a really clear pristine sound, a versatile vocalist.
It´s nice to hear to development of the guitar work and the lead work has gotten better and better for each album. Thumbs up to that. The songs certainly have some good moments, but the overall feel is still the same, it leaves me wishing for something more.
Not 100% sure but it sounds like they´ve used amp sims on this album. It works in a full context but when you hear the guitars alone and without vocals it is more prominent and has this character, I’m not liking vs tube amps. But when you have a full mix with a lot of keys and vocals it really doesn’t matter. The mix feels more balanced compare to some of the previous ones.
Flag of hope (2020)
I thought I’d take this latest EP in since it´s their latest release, did skip them otherwise since they had a few albums to go through. I actually like this opening track ‘Given up for lost’ a good and driven song with good melodies, Cool intro lead work, the chorus is a good one, something I found myself humming later that day. ‘Stand Away’ has some high-pitched vocals which he handles nicely and is a great showcase of his abilities. The strong point of this latest EP in my book is the vocals and some impressive and nice guitar lead work.
Intro on ´Voyage to distant shores´ is really not my cup of tea. Sounds like what you hear on cruise ships in the elevator, not digging it at all, it however transforms into an instrumental song with some cool lead tradeoffs but then comes this really weird acoustic jam part that just feels pretentious and forced. Let’s do something that isn´t expected here, but it´s not working, quite the opposite. The part in itself feels just like some kind of break jam at that very same cruise ship. Take out the weird intro and the middle acoustic jam and this would´ve been a great instrumental track. ‘Flag of hope’ has some really nice guitar leads.
Final thoughts and conclusion
So Signum Regis was a quite big task, trying to sum up a whole discography and in order to get a real feel for the content I had to listen through the albums a few times, which felt a bit forced at times since many of the albums wasn´t really my type of music but I had to in order to become more familiar with the albums to do any justice and not just write them off as something I didn´t like personally. A trait of Signum is this happy feel across their discography and I really tried to look past my own preferences and look at it for what it is and not write off anything because it´s not my personal favorite of styles, but judge the song writing and technical aspects and overall performances. I´d place ‘Exodus’ as their strongest album which I truthfully did enjoy, followed by some of the songs between the 2019-20 releases.
I´m found myself often reacting to the lyrics. Not that the content was bad, not at all but they were often lacking a sense of flow. Can be due to English not being their native language, I don´t know. Other thing that contributes to this is when you write as a story, just a story without a feel of rhyming often times creates this vibe of sounding like it´s lacking a sense of flow. A thing that came by more than once through all these albums.
To me all the albums sounded like they were self-produced due to the unbalanced stuff in their mixes. For the reasons mentioned with unbalanced low end and other simple things that needed attention. Would´ve not happened if they were handled by a top producer. Pretty basic stuff that were neglected. Nothing that will ruin the listening experience though. Pretty decent productions across their discography. Towards the end a plus in my book was to hear the development of the guitar lead work. At times some really tasty stuff.
Signum Regis will not end up in my regular playlist. I´m can openly admit that this was not quite my kind of power metal and for those that this is top notch, great for you. Until next time. Stay metal folks!
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