ROOM V

Progressive metal that's not overly heavy, not super technical, with fantastic smooth vocals from Mike Baker (may he rest in peace) and meaningful lyrics. Some of the songs feature some nice female vocals, and Arjen Lucassen appears briefly for a guitar solo.

There aren't any major surprises here for Shadow Gallery fans. Lots of melody and a good amount of keyboard. It's certainly a better album than their self-titled release and it's better than Legacy--but it's not as good as Tyranny. It's perhaps a touch heavier than their earlier albums--and still lighter than 90% of progressive metal in general. And it's extremely long, especially for a single-CD album. There are rather frequent glimpses of prior albums here, a sequence of notes from earlier times. The best track is "Rain," in part due to some intense vocals.

The first four Shadow Gallery albums were some of the first progressive metal albums I owned. I took a long break from listening to new music about the time that Room V first came out--and it's been delightful to revisit them now on this new-for-me album. Essential for Shadow Gallery fans, highly recommended for progressive metal fans in general. 4.5 stars.