Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

Metal/Prog Metal CD Reviews

Tara Lynch Evil Enough Review by Gary Hill Tara Lynch is an exceptional guitar player. This album really reflects that. While there are a number of instrumentals built around her guitar solos, this is not a shred-only album by any means. This is a melodic metal set that has great hooks and strong song-writing. Lynch provides lead vocals on a number of the songs, but Mark Boals handles the lead vocals on some others. Lynch's vocals most often make me think of Doro Pesch, while Boals' remind me of the more metal side of Alice Cooper most often. All in all, this is a great debut release, that might be one of the best metal albums to come out this year. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2018 Volume 4. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2018.

Track by Track Review

Evil Enough Sound effects with an evil laugh open this. A cool guitar bit rises upward. They launch out into some killer metal from there. This is classic power metal that really rocks. It has some strong hooks and is just plain mean.

Antidote The rhythm section starts this. Some killer guitar chords join as it works out from there. Some of the guitar work on this lands in the neighborhood of shredding technical metal. The vocals and general song structure seems closer to the territory of epic and power metal. As strong as the opener was, this is so much more potent.

Exit the Warrior This smoking hot instrumental really combines that epic metal sound with a more technical edge to things. It has some killer classical elements in the guitar soloing along with some powerhouse melodic metal. There is even a cool synthesizer solo built into it. Somehow this reminds me of a more metallic version of early Rainbow.

Kringeworthy Acoustic guitar brings this into being. Electric guitar paints melodies over the top. The cut shifts out from there to more smoking hot, but slow moving metal. This resembles a power ballad. The vocals bring it more in line with a metal version of sounds like Heart to me. This is one of the most dynamic pieces here. It's also so powerful. I love everything about this. Around the three and a half minute mark it fires out into some particularly inspired and rocking metal for an instrumental movement.

Banished from My Kingdom Speaking of epic and power metal, this cut really does a great job of combining the two. It features some inspired guitar work, some awe-inspiring shifts and some potent vocal hooks. This is one of the highlights of the set for sure.

Gui-Tara Rises Coming in with intricate melodic guitar laced with metallic textures, this works outward in some killer dramatic metal ways. It's so powerful. It has elements of progressive rock, but is decidedly metal. This shifts into a different movement after a time and Lynch solos in some powerful ways over the top of that. This instrumental is another highlight of the set, really. It's also another of the more dynamic things here, working through changes and differing moods as it drives forward.

Unbreakable There is a bit of a punk edge to this screaming hot metal stomper. While it's not anything particularly fancy, the cool guitar soloing really elevates it. The guitar solo section later is especially potent.

Enigmatic Drums bring this one in, and they launch out into more of a mainstream metal rocker from there. The guitar soloing on this instrumental really elevates it.

Trustless I dig the cool riff based groove that starts this. The song works into some ferocious metal from there. This is a meaner cut with power metal merging with something a bit more raw. The guitar solo is both expressive and impressive.

Feckless Lock There is a short mellow introduction that's mostly atmospheric. That basically serves to me the rising metal riff (already particularly hard edged) seem even more powerful. This instrumental features some potent guitar soloing and tasty riffs. It's another powerhouse.

More CD Reviews

Metal/Prog Metal

Non-Prog

Progressive Rock

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
© 2024 Music Street Journal Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com