The Light in the Dark

I came across this outfit while trying to find out what the Sadus members could possibly be doing when they were supposed to work on a new Sadus opus… and this is how I tracked down Jon Allen who’s hitting the drums here in the company of other renowned musicians like the guitar player Eric Halpern (Helstar, Leatherwolf, Destiny’s End, Distant Thunder, etc.), the bassist Shane Dubose (Outworld), among other more or less known artists who have had a previous stint together in the 90’s under the name Z-LOT-Z, a classic heavy metal formation.

The only person who seems to haven’t had any experience in any other act previously is the girl Steffany Johnston, the vocalist who acquits herself with a nice attached timbre without pouring too much emotion and without breaking any glasses along the way with shattering falcettoes, recalling Johanna DePierre from the Swedish power/thrashers Amaran, some similarities with that act in the music department as well. She is helped in her endeavours by occasional steady clean male vocals courtesy of Dubose.

The music is boisterous rowdy, retro progressive power metal, more on the classic side, bordering on thrash on occasion, at times recalling Outworld, at others Symphony X and Conception, among other legends. Unobtrusive keyboards accompany the riff-patterns for a large portion of the journey which moves from the belligerent rhythms of the title-track to the more introspective semi-balladic configurations of the poignant “The Call”. “Let Go” notches up the virtuosity with more exuberant riff-patterns the more operatic layout bringing Nightwish to mind, especially when Johnston tries a few high-pitched variations at some point. “Hypnotized” is an aggressive stomper with pacifying balladic developments, and “Bullet by Bullet” almost turns into an “eagle fly free” hymn ala the 90’s power/speed metal movement with the dynamic bouncy rhythm-section which carries a lot of optimism not without the lush application of the keyboards. “The Other Side” is a darker proposition with heavy pounding riffage, but more energetic speedy developments in the second half will move the head around, and may even make the headbangers pay attention. “Broken” is a brilliant epicer with a mesmerizing vocal (female) performance and some of the finest leads since the beginning of the new millennium, a sheer no-brainer of dramatic multifarious metal covering a wide gamut of moods and tempos, leaving all the galloping vigour for “Rise up”, an impetuous horse rider recalling luminaries like Attacker and Helstar, ending this opus with hyper-active panache.

A really worthy entry into the contemporary progressive metal roster, and it can’t be any other way, if you think of it, having in mind the musicians involved. Halpern has long since proven himself as a devout advocate of the classic speed/power metal idea, and it’s good to see him upgrading to a more complex, less immediate approach, one that also sides with the one from the project started by his colleagues from Destiny’s End, Crescent Shield. Dubose has by all means brought something from the Outworld kitchen although the delivery is not as persistently heavy and brooding, relying on bigger dynamics and more labyrinthine arrangements.

The veteran knights and the young wayward dame have had a good start here, and one can only wish that this fellowship will last longer, and will produce more rousing, complex battle hymns in the days to come.