REALITY IN FOCUS

There is no doubt that Magnitude 9 want to be a slightly more progressive version of Iron Maiden (witness their cover of "Flight Of Icarus"), but I found that I was being distracted by the overall sound of the album. For most of the CD, to my ears admittedly, the drums are too high in the mix and the guitars too polished and subdued. This spoilt the whole album for me, which is a shame as there are some great guitar breaks and guitar/keyboard interplays. The songs and vocals are also good but for me the album is spoilt by the drums and for that reason if no other I can't recommend it.

Originally appeared in Feedback #62, May 01