MANIACAL RENDERINGS

"Maniacal Renderings" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US power/heavy metal act Jon Oliva´s Pain. The album was released through AFM Records in September 2006. It´s the successor to "'Tage Mahal" from 2004 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Shane French has been added, making Jon Oliva´s Pain a sextet on "Maniacal Renderings". The two full-length studio albums are bridged by the June 2006 "Straight-Jacket Memoirs" EP.

Stylistically the material on "Maniacal Renderings" continue in the US power/semi-progressive (only the longer tracks) metal style of "'Tage Mahal" (2004). It´s more or less a continuation of 90s Savatage with Oliva on lead vocals. While the instrumental part of the music is certainly performed by skilled musicians (all had previously played with Circle II Circle), it´s Oliva´s distinct sounding voice and passionate delivery which are in focus. The tracks are all well written, intricate (the heavy riffs and leads are often amazing), and also relatively varied in style. The album features both ballads, power ballads, progressive epic tracks, hard edged US power metal tracks, symphonic moments, and even what I´d characterize as a full blown thrash metal song in "Push It to the Limit". I always knew Oliva would be a kickass thrash metal vocalist, and this proves it...

..."Maniacal Renderings" features a relatively well sounding production. All instruments are audible in the mix, and Oliva´s vocals are especially well produced. The drums unfortunately feature a weak cardboard box tone, and a more organic sounding drum production would have boosted the overall sound a lot. The rhythm guitars can also be a bit low in the mix on some parts, and all in all it´s just not as great a sound production as you could have wished for. When that is said "Maniacal Renderings" is still a quality US power metal release, and fans of Savatage should of course give it a listen. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)