DESERT CALL

A decent sophomore effort from this talented band from Tunisia. They succeed in not making a cookie cutter copy of their debut. I do think I prefer the debut slightly over this as the Middle Eastern fusion effects have been subdued here a bit as well as the prog metal having been revved up. At the same time, this sounds a little less derivative of Symphony X, so all in all it is pretty even for me.

Not all of the songs are as catchy on this one but the ones that are can be extremely addictive with 'Shockwave' being at the top of the list. Something is lacking on this release for me to really love it like I do their follow-up to this, TALES OF THE SANDS. Overrall a very good second effort from this band showing the world that a great prog metal release from Africa is no flash in the pan. After hearing the next release it's obvious that they will push their sound even further and hone their musical sound into something even more interesting.