Brainstorm equals quality Power Metal and there is nothing new under the sun on their new studio album entitled Liquid Monster, naturally following in the wake of their successful Soul Temptation.
We are offered 11 new songs, ranging from high-speed Power Metal grenades, over groovy mid-tempo cuts to melodic semi-ballads.
Brainstorm is a well oiled and forcefully built machine ready to strike down any obstacles with a massive wall of intense sounds. This task only gets more manageable thanks to a vigorous and bombastic production.
A song like
Worlds Are Comin' Through is very typical for the band, having a rough rhythm section, high quality and diverse drums and a memorable chorus line. Added spacey and dynamic key sounds and intelligent guitar soloing we are well underway to a great song, only wish they had dropped the minor vocal distortions.
In
All Those Words Andy is joined by a female singer in the very melodic refrain, it adds another layer and it works very well. His strong and yet sensitive voice is a trademark of the band, a very talented singer able to change his approach when needed.
Heavenly beautifully melts warm acoustic guitars, dreaming keys and harmonious vocals together into a slow and melodic whole, clearly one of the album's best songs.
When focusing on the fast side of this monster,
Despair To Drown comes to mind. A thrilling track with heavy riffs, phenomenal drumming, thundering guitar leads and rock solid bass passages.
What keeps this from being a more successful album is a dose of rather uninteresting elements found in considerable portions, especially the choruses at times seem too traditional and unchallenging.
Invisible Enemy has one of them and a very monotone one indeed, a song that never really gets under my skin.
Burns My Soul also has a hard time holding my attention fixed. It's just too vague in character and don't really bring much exciting to the table, slowly grooving towards a flat ending.
Don't get me wrong; I like this album a lot, even the not so cool songs still rock to some degree, but I'm missing a higher average quality and one or two really fabulous tracks.
When turning to the actual execution of the songs I especially enjoy the technical and intense drumming but all members display very good performances, the bass is in my opinion hidden a bit too far away in the creative process though.
These guys surely know how to hold things together and I have always had a soft spot for their compact structures and bombastic rhythm section, still not reaching the heights found on the amazing Ambiguity album.
Dealing with personal struggles and aspects of forgiveness and sorrow indicates a quite humanistic lyrical sphere, about reaching deep within one self, all in all its good stuff and it nicely fits the mood of the songs.
What it isn't: Innovative and highly spectacular.
What it is: Reliable, ultra solid and well crafted.
Written by
Tommy Saturday, March 26, 2005
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 6.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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