When Charles Rytkönen and Tony Eriksson lost the rights to the name Morgana Lefay in 1997, they continued under this abbreviated name, together with members of Fantasmagoria. The remaining members of Morgana Lefay released a contract fulfilling self-titled album in 1999 that bore no resemblance to the original sound of the band. Lefay left Noise Records in 2000 and went into a semi-hiatus for a couple of years. In September of 2004 they resigned with Black Mark and regained the rights to use their full name.

SYMPHONY OF THE DAMNED (1999) NOISE RECORDS

  1. The Whore Of Babylon
  2. Symphony Of The Damned
  3. Fatal Illusions
  4. Last Rites
  5. Lullaby
  6. The Secret Doctrine - instrumental
  7. Tequila
  8. Catacombs
  9. War Without End
  10. Crazy *
  11. Captain Howdy *
  12. Strange Way *
  13. Cocaine *
 Line-up:
Charles Rytkönen - Vocals
Tony Eriksson - Guitar
Peter Grehn - Guitar
Mikael "Micke" Åsentorp - Bass
Robin Engström - Drums

* - bonus tracks

What a strange way to introduce myself to a band. You see the full title on this CD is "Symphony Of The Damned - Re-symphonised." So this is a
re-recording of the band's debut album, originally released in 1990 when they were known as Morgana Lefay. The original version was printed on vinyl in only 537 copies.

Musically rooted in old Savatage, Vicious Rumors and Metal Church, Lefay plays power metal in it's truest form. And few bands do it better then these Swedes. 'Symphony Of The Damned' might be re-recorded songs written when the members where very young, but these re-recorded versions show that they had something unique already from start. The music is so powerful, moody and diverse. The riffing is the effective mainstay of the songs, but luckily Tony And Peter mix it up with some acoustic guitars every now and then. There are some really killer solos throughout the CD as well. What really makes this band stand out though, is the unique vocals. Charles voice is hard to describe, and you really need to hear it to understand how awesome he sounds. His strong voice is sophisticated and twisted at the same time. The closest comparison I can conjure up would be if Jon Oliva (Savatage) and Midnight (Crimson Glory) had a child together! The only turd in this punchbowl is the song "Tequila". Probably intended to be a comic relief, this party song just doesn't fit in at all on this album.

The last four songs are bonus tracks that were not part of the original recording. All of them are cover songs. "Crazy" is a Nazareth cover, "Captain Howdy" is a Twisted Sister cover, "Strange Way" is an erroneously entitled Kiss cover and "Cocaine" is a J.J. Cale cover. None of them are remarkably done here.

Killer tracks: Symphony Of The Damned, Fatal illusions, Last Rites, Catacombs