There is a very Germanic vibe to this lost. The galloping bass-line is very prevalent but then so is the wild waddling that is so common in this type of music. That is not to say there are mellow breaks to vary things; just listen to the middle eight on the well meant “Freedom Calling”.
Yes, one might be able to make a case that the lead singer’s persistent high pitched vocals could use a wee bit of variety. But that is a minor niggle; the music is rather good. One does hope their next album will have a bit more variety on it that echo the track “Fear of the Rage” which has a early Queensryche or even Iced Earth vibe. Not bad points to start from.
There is quality in that there temple, it will be interesting to see where they take it next time.
Crystal Eyes: Chained
It takes a few tracks to really get into its true vibe, but when it finally hits you know what you are in for. “Waves of War” is just meant for the live festival circuit. Hordes of drunken festival goers shaking their fists and flying there jolly rogers in unison. It smacks of Helloween during Mike Kiske’s tenure and that is no bad thing. Mock as much as you want, but the minute this CD is over you will hear this song in you head… it's just disgustingly catchy.
And then they even go for a song that would cause Blackmore’s Night fans to go all wobbly at the knees. Acoustic guitars and mystical lyrics are all there but never so much that they are lame. You can just imagine the track being written while the band was pissed off their gord with an acoustic guitar in hand. It has that role-playing/massively online role-player game quality to it.
All in all quite an enjoyable album that you will find yourself liking despite some instincts not to. A decent release from a band that clearly know a thing or two about writing a cracking song. Ones to watch that is for sure.
Symphony X: Paradise Lost
There are few bands that do this sort of music so well. It's pretentious, over the top, symphonic, and quite fabulous. The band will never take understatement as their mantra. The anti-punk you might say. Tracks like “Set the World on Fire” combine the anthemic aspects of Germanic power metal as practiced by the likes of Helloween, Gamma Ray et al via the American version with Savatage and Icea Earth, to something that is rather epic in scope.
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