Arion - The Light That Burns The Sky (2025)

One of the multitude of European power metal bands flying relatively low to the ground, Finland’s Arion (pronounced like Orion or carrion?) have seen coverage just once previously at AngryMetalGuy.com. The late, great Huck n’ Roll1 opined that their third record was competent but generic, seeking hits rather than their own sound. 2025 has arrived, and with it comes a successor release entitled The Light that Burns the Sky. Pitched as a “highly anticipated symphonic masterpiece,” and with a growing well of experience underpinning the band, I set appropriate expectations as I hit play.

Arion’s strongest quality is a legitimate chunkiness they boast in the face of Europower competitors that I usually find saccharine. Their compositions are appropriately maximalist, with reasonably dense layers of metal instrumentation fused with strings and faux choirs. But the songwriting and production generally elevate the impact of the guitars and drums in the mix above the symphonic elements; in particular, the guitars and drums benefit from a robust, battering tone while subjugating the keyboard elements. Likewise, the vocalist is sufficiently acrobatic to hit the necessary notes but prioritizes a gritty, shouting personality above a wailing vibrato. Finally, The Light that Burns moves at a quick pace, which, when paired with the compositions, coalesces into a sound that’s pretty heavy for power metal. The title track is an early highlight and exemplifies the qualities described above. Its speed and heft sounds something like Symphony X, with an appreciable brevity resulting in a song that passes instantaneously.

However, I find that The Light that Burns struggles to keep itself fresh. Despite its beefier-than-most style, the album becomes more repetitive and generic by side B. It contains ten proper songs (not including the short opener), and they all sound fairly similar. I find that my initial enthusiasm only persists for the first few songs; beyond this, the spark is extinguished. For example, “Blasphemous Paradise” is a pale imitation of the title track as it features stylistically similar but less enjoyable melodies. I query the purpose of songs that are simply lesser renditions of others. And the further into the album ventured, the more I struggled to maintain my focus; I was hard pressed to write any notes at all about the penultimate track called “In the Heart of the Sea.” I’ll happily listen to some bands doing the same thing ten times over, but only where they produce great music. By contrast, Arion merely produce serviceable music.

Where Arion attempt to generate the quality through variety I find myself craving, they still don’t quite achieve this. “Wings of Twilight” uses a female vocalist in its chorus who offers an ear-catching change of tone, but she’s ultimately less effective because her style is more generic than the main vocalist. This song also leans more heavily into synths. These two factors contribute to the song diluting the band’s personality and heaviness. Likewise, the closer runs for longer in an effort to reach something more epic. But what this practically entails is nearly two minutes of a repetitive introduction, extending what should be a sub-five-minute song to one that approaches seven minutes. By contrast, and despite my general enjoyment of the heavier songs here, a mid-album ballad might have worked better to refresh the sound of The Light that Burns for its second half.

There are substantial strengths in the core sound of The Light that Burns, and there are a couple of strong songs, but Arion are just not compelling enough to warrant anything more than a neutral award. While I admire the trend towards heavier material, the songs are insufficiently distinct to carry a 45-minute album. And though this release may not be quite as generic as the last, my overall summary can still go no further than “competent”.

TRACKLIST

01. The Darkest Day
02. The Light That Burns The Sky
03. Like The Phoenix I Will Rise
04. Wings Of Twilight (feat. Melissa Bonny)
05. Burning In The Skies
06. From An Empire To A Fall
07. Wildfire
08. Blasphemous Paradise
09. Black Swan
10. In The Heart Of The Sea
11. Into The Hands Of Fate