RISING FORCE: ALCHEMY

This is one Yngwie Malmsteen's better and more progressive recent albums and something of a return to form. Perhaps like no other of his more current albums does Alchemy hark back to the greatness of the first three albums: Rising Force, Marching Out and Trilogy. It most closely resembles the latter. Indeed, Mark Boals, who sang on Trilogy, returned for this album. While the early Malmsteen albums had an influence on the emergence of progressive Metal, it is possible that the direction of influence now runs in the other direction. There is also a Power Metal flavour to this album with strong and somewhat catchy melodies. Another thing to note is that the songs are generally longer than in the past with several tracks having an extended length and the closing number is even an 11 minute, three-part composition. This leaves more room for instrumental breaks and solos. However, while keyboards are part of the sound, there are not really any keyboard solos to speak of.

As far as standout tracks are concerned I can mention the excellent opening instrumental Blitzkrieg that reminds of the sort of thing that could be found on the 1984 debut. The seven and a half minute Leonardo is about Leonardo da Vinci and features some Gregorian-style chants and excellent instrumental work. Voodoo Nights is another strong and rather heavy track. Blue is a bluesy (!) instrumental that lets the listener catch his breath a little bit before further onslaughts of Neo-Classical Power Metal. There are no ballads as such on this album and it would have benefited from one or two more relaxed tunes. The strength of this album lies primarily in its consistency: All the tracks are at least good, and none are awful.

Highly recommended!