DEAD WINTER DEAD

This is one incredible album! Savatage at it's prime (next to the Wake of Magellan). It may not be very progressive, but I would never give a good album a bad rating just because it's not very progressive.

This is a concept album about the war in bosnia. Though the concept is not very strong, it works very well, and the lyrics are done very well to tell the story. One of the Tracks "Mozart and Madness" simulates a battle between the two sides. This is done very well for an instrumental.

The melodies are very strong and the vocals are very powerful, especially by Zak Stevens. Songs like This is the time, One Child and Not What You See are very powerful and inspiring. This is one of the main reasons I love Savatage. The Keyboards have no solos, but create a create background and epic feel, and the piano is especially nice. It's also interesting to hear Symphonic Metal versions of Mozart. :)

If I were to say whether this album is progressive metal or not, I would probably say no. This makes no difference in my rating. This is Power Metal with SOME progressive elements. This band is very influential for me and I consider this album to be a masterpiece. If TSO is here than it's main base, Savatage, should definitely be here. Though this album is not as progressive as The Wake of Magellan and Poets & Madmen, it is still amazing in my mind.