VOICE IN THE LIGHT

I love the rigidity of Progarchives rating system, it is needed. But I think this release deserves a 5 because it has the potential to appeal to a broader range of prog listeners. There's a bit of metal, lots of rock, some extended jamming, prog breakdowns, solos, and some melodic prog like 80's Yes (and apparently Kansas and Journey), etc. Great vocals from DC Cooper, think Geoff Tate, only better.

Yes, there are similarities to Queensryche, Shadow Gallery and Spock's Beard - in fact, that defines this release. The individual performances are great, Nick D'V's drumming is perfectly flashy, not metal - no double bass drums, it just breathes. Gary W's guitar is flashy, over the top, but never out of place. DC Cooper throws in the high notes as punctuation, brilliantly. The story line, whilst a bit soap opera-like is good, doesn't really taint the songs, because they're so strong and stand alone.

The only part I can see people struggling with is the soap-opera-lovey-dovey-Meatloaf-esque parts, which really only appear in 3 or 4 songs. Get past these, even enjoy them, and the rest is amazing.