In metal news, we constantly read that the keyboardist of one famous band, the drummer of another, and say the former guitarist of yet another have joined forces to record an album. As a result, based on such name-dropping speculation, people automatically become interested in the output of the newly formed project. There are certainly successful examples — DEMONS & WIZARDS, for instance. However, in most cases, side projects are made by people who are not the songwriters in their main band, and a positive result is more the exception than the rule.
WINGDOM emerged back in 2002, and three years later their first and so far only disc appeared. It is called "Reality," runs just under an hour, and was released on the label High And Loud, owned by STRATOVARIUS vocalist Timo Kotipelto, whose solo work, incidentally, is not exactly the most brilliant thing on the modern power metal scene.
So, the disc was recorded by the following musicians: Sami Asp — vocals, Jukka Ruotsalainen — guitar, Markus Niemispelto — drums, Alessandro Lotta — bass (played in RHAPSODY from 1998 to 2001), and Mikko Harkin — keyboards (played in SONATA ARCTICA from 1996 to 2002). Back in 2002, Mikko actually declared that music interfered with his life priorities and he would no longer pursue it. A familiar situation — Matt Barlow (ex-ICED EARTH) made the same claim and is now singing in a second-rate Danish band. Ville Laihiala, after SENTENCED disbanded, declared he would write one more album with POISONBLACK, do a tour, and that would be it — but then changed his mind. And so Mikko continued making music. In essence, "Reality" can be considered his solo album, since he wrote absolutely all the songs and most of the lyrics as well.
And how did it turn out — that's the question. We listen to the album and give our answer: essentially, not well at all. Gray, devoid of energy and any distinguishing quality, this progressive power metal is rather tedious and thoroughly banal — complete with the traditional grandiosity of a 12-and-a-half-minute closing track. "The Essence" and "Tomorrow" are two compositions that save the album, and to some extent "A Sigh Of Despair" as well. The vocalist handles his duties quite capably when it comes to high parts — his voice, though squeaky, is powerful and possesses original timbral coloring. In the lower register, however, Sami Asp simply cannot sing, to put it bluntly. In terms of production, there seems to be nothing to fault. All in all, hundreds of releases like this come out every year; here and there they contain decent ideas and passages. But if one were to imagine this release had never come out at all, the musical heritage would certainly have lost nothing.