Masterplan is back with a new album and a new line up. The maestro vocalist
Jorn Lande has left the band and so has drummer Uli Kusch. Replacing them are the rock solid Mike Terrana (ex-Rage) on drums and Mike DiMeo (ex-Riot) on vocals. Both do a good job of filling the rather large sized shoes of their predecessors.
Mike DiMeo is no Lande killer (who is?) but his voice fits the music well and he makes a good impression overall, sounding suspiciously like Lande on a few occasions. Unfortunately he has a way of hanging on to words for too long, bending them in an unconvincing way. A few of many examples:
Lost and Gone at 1:06 "sacrifice".
Keeps me burning at 3:43 "True",
Take me over at 1:07 "goodbye", at 1:19 "soul" and at 1:26 "spoken". (Since this is an AFM promo the exact times may differ with a few seconds on the final release, more on that later)
Nitpicking for sure, but like when Zachary Stevens took over from Jon Oliva in
Savatage and started yeah'ing every second line, it is an important point that should be worked on in the future.
Dwelling one more second on Mike DiMeo, I believe he will prove to be a good replacement for
Jorn Lande in due time.
The
Masterplan debut is still my favorite of theirs and MK II doesn't come close to surpassing it. To do that it would need more surprises and more ballsy inspiration. MK II plays it safe with no big surprises but bets all its money on solidly crafted, heavy and melodic metal that's all good, but not particularly challenging. It lacks that extra bit of infectious charm and inspiration the debut had.
Since this is an AFM promo all the songs have been shortened by about a minute and are fading together. I've tried not to let this impact my overall impression, but it's hard since it ruins the flow and messes up the ending and beginning of all songs. This effort to fight piracy by crippling the music is a stupid move.
Back to the album.
After an action movie-like introduction
Warrior's Cry kicks things off mercilessly, with a swift blast of speed and power. The song shows great promise for the album with fast riffing and machine gun drumming. Unfortunately the album slows down all too soon with the arrival of the albums first single, the substandard and overly sentimental power ballad
Lost and Gone. This is one of the two fillers on the album, the second being the second to last song
Enemy, which lacks anything resembling a memorable moment.
Trust in you and
Masterplan, the song, also fail to impress, but each has its moments.
The rest of the songs all have their own small highlights and range from good to splendid. Stand-outs include the dense, chugging
Heart of Darkness, the Helloweenishly cool
Watching the World and the mean riffed
Call the Gipsy.
Keeps me Burning is a personal favorite with a positive vibe, underlined by a fine keyboard layer and a driving drum performance. It is hard not to sing along to the chorus after a few listens. The guitar riff in the middle of the chorus is a perfect fit as well.
I'm gonna win just fails claiming the first prize because it relies too much on its ultra catchy melody line. Good song, but it feels straight forward and a bit too easy, lacking an element of surprise.
Roland Grapow deserves a special mention. He displays great skill and infects the songs with a special guitar vibe. His riffs, licks and solos are a saving grace and bring some distinction to the album.
MK II might grow slightly when I am able to actually hear the songs the way they were meant to be heard. So far this sounds promising but not mind blowing. A good album that doesn't break any new ground, but takes the safe route. Light, melodic and easy to get into but lacking something really spectacular.
Written by
Steen Wednesday, February 14, 2007
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