Point Of Ares - Enemy Glory Darkly Blessed Reviews

Reviews - Enemy Glory Darkly Blessed

"Evoking a visual imagery of dark and light, and accompanied by the sounds of driving rhythms and guitars, Point Of Ares treads through the labyrinth of conceptual musical magick and dares to go where few have been before."
--Leslie Marini, New Witch, Issue 2, Winter 2002-2003

"Musically influenced by bands like Rush, Iron Maiden and Jethro Tull, this CD expertly melts progressive hard rock with epic lyrical content. Enemy Glory Darkly Blessed works well as an individual piece of music and as a soundtrack for fantasy stories. Here, all the requirements for a concept album are well represented and the CD creates the perfect symbiosis of lyrics and music."
--Music BIZ Magazine, Vol. 4, Issue 1, January/February 2002

"Nik Venet created the term "writer/singer" for Harriet Schock and true to form, after the passing of that legendary record producer for Linda Ronstadt, The Beach Boys, Dory Previn and so many others, Schock released a book on writing songs, Becoming Remarkable, that was a companion piece to one of the final recordings from Venet, her Rosebud album.

A Massachusetts writer/singer, Karen Michalson, has achieved a similar coup, and this CD by Michalson's band, Point Of Ares, is a companion piece as well, only with a twist. Tom Doherty Associates, publishers in New York, released her fantasy novel, Enemy Glory, and this record appears to be the soundtrack to the book. This is a project the husband and wife team of Bill Michalson and Karen have worked on for many years, the original release of Enemy Glory is detailed in the liner notes. The material here with the exception of five tracks is 'rearranged and rewritten from earlier versions that were included on Point Of Ares's 1996 release.' The close to an hour's worth of music on Enemy Glory Darkly Blessed was recorded at the end of 2000 into January of 2001.

With the success of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings the fans of Fantasy and Science Fiction are going to look for material already on the market. Point Of Ares and the Michalsons are ready with this sixteen track CD. The music is a jolt, an unsettling blast of a power trio with Black Sabbath riffs that is adventurous because most readers want lush background sounds which have become synonymous with this genre. The music here did reach the world first via the debut CD, and there's a chance it could turn a younger audience onto the book but it is going to take the artist a lot of arguing to convince movie companies to go with this driving sound rather than John Williams's orchestration. They can cross that bridge when they come to it, because this is pioneering stuff, and the rock audience that will groove on "Battle's One" can certainly seek out the anti-hero catalyst, the character Llewelyn. A strange mixture of Uriah Heep meets Mike Oldfield at some points, it's a complex work worthy of acknowledgement."
--Joe Viglione, All Media Guide, January 4, 2002

"It is obvious from the punching lilt in Karen's vocals, that the heart of a true Celt beats within her chest."
--Cristy, Score! Magazine, November 1, 2001

"It's a CD that plays like a musical DVD, luring the listener into its horror movie-like trance, combining witchcraft with alluring danger. In what seems like a soundtrack into the mind of Point Of Ares' brainchild, Karen Michalson, with a mixture of both spoken word and song, the lyrical content in Enemy Glory Darkly Blessed is intense and edgy. Along with guitarist Bill Michalson and drummer Ryan DesRoches, this CD brings us into Michalson's dark fantasy world. It is impossible to put this melodious "novel" of sorts down once you get sucked into the plot. . . . This is one that cannot be missed, especially for those who love and fear the dark!"
--Carol Anne Szel, Inside Connection, September 2001

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