New Revelation

I found out about Astral Doors from a YouTube video dealing with cheesey power metal songs, and heard the chorus of the title track "New Revelation". I was intrigued by it (mostly because it sounded somewhat like the end of the Dragonball theme song...). I promptly tried the whole album and was not disappointed!

The very first thing one notices about this album is the vocalist is incredible - sounds to me like a cross of Ronnie James Dio (RIP), Jørn Lande, and at some points (Cold War Survivor) Alice Cooper. That was enough to keep me listening, but soon discovered that every instrumentalist was doing a great job as well, with some crunchy and awesome guitar tones, great synth patches and spot on rhythm work. There aren't any solos that made me drop my jaw, but there also didn't seem much necessity for them.

The lyrical themes, well I'm not sure exactly what they all are. I can see a running theme of mythological/fairy tale type of lyrics. However, they're definitely enough to stick in your head for an undetermined amount of time. Musical styles are also very, well, varied. There are some thrash riffs, some clear power metal influence and and every now and then (Bastard Son, Planet Earth) some interesting jazz chords. I would say what my favourite songs on the album are, but I really enjoy them all.

In close, this is definitely up on the list of my favourite metal albums of all time. Definitely worth the time and money.