SAVE MY SOUL

Quite a good album from the German band Poverty's No Crime, Germany has no lack of quality progmetal bands. I can't believe I've never heard of these guys before; they've been around since 1991, but I was in diapers then, so that's excusable.

Save My Soul is PNC's sixth album, and it's quite different from the rest of their recent output. The guitars have a Maiden-ish tone to them sometimes when soloing, and Volker Walsemann's voice is much deeper than usual. The songs are a bit heavier too, but that doesn't make them any less good.

After a rather pointless intro track, the album actually starts with a bang with Systematic Chaos-era Dream Theater guitar acrobatics. The title track, and ''In The Wait Loop are two of the best cuts off of SMS. The former is driven by a repetitive, yet addictively enjoyable drumbeat, with Walsemann's oily vocals gliding above the band. The latter contains some attention-grabbing synths, along with a couple of Pink Floyd inspired breakdowns. The only flaw with Save My Soul is that a lot of the tracks are primarily heavy, with not enough soft sections. Other than that, fans of textbook progressive metal will be satisfied with this album.