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ODYSSEY
Get out your leather jackets, your Reebok High Tops and your best worn Iron
Maiden concert T-Shirt, becuase
the return of dungeon metal is back. Yup folks, Dio has NOTHING on these
guys. This is metal at it's finest. Loud,
fast, heavy, pretentious and downright medival. These guys hail from the
lovely Garden State of New Jersey and
have been pounding out amazing metal albums for years, yet they are
virtually unknown in the states. Why you ask?
Promotion, distribution, marketing, money, and let's face it, these guys
don't have the looks to grace the front pages
of Rolling Stone, but they can play their asses off and write some pretty
damn good bombastic metal riffs that will
have you rushing to the nearest hillside and strike your best 'I am a
viking' pose. This disc is so loaded with amazing
guitar playing, provided by the ever amazing Michael Romeo who could easily
give Dream Theater's John Petrucci a
run for his money (no offense John). 'The Odyssey' has some pretty catchy
riffs that could make old Dime Bag Darrel
jealous and the solos simply soar, and if you need any proof, just listen to
the opening riff of "Wicked" and the solos
in 'Accolade II' you will know what I mean. Lead Vocalist Russell Allen
still sounds alot like Ronnie James Dio with a
serious mean streak, yet he infuses his own personal style to all that he
touches. I simply love these guys and wish
they could at least catch a decent break in the States. They deserve it. The
material on this disc is very strong with
a stronger and tighter emphasis on song structure and an overall heaviness
compared to some of their previous releases
(for someof the older material check out "V" and "Live on the Edge to
Forever", both HIGHLY recommended). This disc
is so well produced that it could become a benchmark for other metal acts to
follow. The instrumentation is very well laid
out and the dynamics are terrific, each band member gets to shine in their
own right, and the band is simply tighter than
a snare drum. My hats off to you boys, for another stellar addition to an
already mighty catalog. Now kids, run to your
nearest store and purchase this disc before Thor the Hellhammer bashes your
skulls into pure dust.
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