BEYOND DAYLIGHT

This is good stuff. The bands reminds me of Dream Theater, the similarities are obvious. The vocals are different though, at times similar to newer Threshold albums. There are really stellar moments in some of the songs, but the album as a whole is just not inventive enough for me.

But they're trying really hard, musicianship and production are top notch, so they get 4 stars from me, which really are just 3 1/2 stars. Sorry, but DT did it first! Also, the keyboards are - well - underwhelming. They are buried in the mix, and appear too thin and unimportant compared to the Guitars.

Nightwalker: Solid track, with an amazing "accelerating" riff between verse and chorus.

Cold Wind: Catchy chorus, some hard riffs - and massive Dream Theater references (Metropolis Pt. 1).

Scarlet Flower Fields: The inevitable ballad. It get's quite heavy at times, but it remains a ballad ... nice, but not spectacular.

Healing Tree: One of my favorites, nice track. But it might be too catchy for most prog fans, and has few progressive elements.

End of All Days: This is my favorite track (together with Beyond Daylight), here they do everything the right way.

Free the Fire: One of the heaviest tracks, with various references to Symphony X, Dream Theater and even Queensryche.

Can You Hear Me: Another ballad. Really similar to track 3 ...

Phoenix: This is an interesting track which - to me - sounds really unique.

Beyond Daylight: Very nice ... it's almost an epic.

Point of Know Return: This track reminds me of Ice Age. A nice happy track, a good album closer.