THE SUFFERING JOY

Perhaps you've seen this album doing quite well in some chart or other, and you're skimming these reviews to see if it's something you should invest in. The quick answer is 'yes, yes you should'.

The songs on this album are fairly complex and rich, with beautiful melodies and a confident range of styles. There are some very effective and understated vocal harmonies. The main singer sounds quite like Tobias Sammat (Edguy, Avantasia) on occasion, but it doesn't appear to be a deliberate aping.

There is some very classy keyboard playing, and when guitar and keyboard play stunning runs together it's reminiscent of DT or Sonata Arctica.

But for me it's the guitar that steals the show. Ye godz, these guys can play! Touches of Brian May, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Michael Angelo Batio, Roine Stolt and Carlos Vamos and goodness knows who else. But it never feels like widdly bits tacked on to otherwise serviceable tracks. The solos and embellishments are there for a reason .. and fortunately the reason is to enhance the pleasure for us, the listeners.

Mixing and production sounds first class to my old ears. Everything is clean and nicely balanced, the song order is well judged, the performances exemplary. The songs are beautifully crafted. The cover art is enigmatic and well executed. This is workmanship of the highest order.

But it has that extra something too; that oomph and passion and artistry that makes an album a life- long friend, and definitely worthy of 5 stars.