DIGITAL NOISE ALLIANCE

QUEENSR?CHE, who would have thought that I would chronicle them one day? Founded in 1981, 86 and an avant-garde 'Rage For Order', 88 and the ultimate metal-prog concept before its time; MAIDEN and FLOYD reunited with Geoff TATE and his operatic voice and name taken from their original hit-anthem 'Queen of the Reich'. Keyboards to denote basic heavy-metal, a more complex composition that will propel them to the face of the world. A separation from the singer, the soul of the group, procrastinated albums bringing nothing new and drowning fans in repetition; in short what about this 17th opus, the 4th with Todd with vocals speaking of the alliance against digital noise, having apparently a more marked progressive expression?

"In Extremis" his recognizable, voice à la IRON MAIDEN, yes Todd has this particularity while the original group precisely took up the compositions of the master group, singular; good rhythmic melodic metal, weighed with the prog tessitura, the sound, a bit of latency and the catchy guitar. "Chapters" Jackson on bass distills a heavy heavy rhythm with a chorus removed for stadium, just enough to regress a few decades; good and agreed with the solo which goes well in break. "Lost in Sorrow" wakes me up a bit; high voice and "Empire" sound, choppy, progressive, it's starting to interest me; the catchy guitar riff and 5 minutes that go by like a letter in the post, with no mail delay. "Sicdeth" more nervous, at least this album is not boring, which I feared; drawing inspiration from the sound of yesteryear and with that cool proggy metal touch; the sober break that arrives gives hope of a drift for a few moments, that's cool especially that "Behind the Walls" arrives as a chained title with this enjoyable, latent, almost symphonic intro; that's it, I feel like I'm diving back into "Operation" at this precise moment; his recent, more nervous, more 'Cadbury', my feet vibrate it's a good sign; it is especially that we are not dealing with an album mouth hole on the classic sounds; a synth in the background stamped prog metal smells good; variation of the voice, guitar excrescences, synth re-covering, the riff which holds in suspense and the final in crescendo with the crystalline guitars and this final synth which makes shiver, hop. "Nocturnal Light" tumbles and drives the point home: progressive latency by the voice, the rhythm, the architecture of the title built like a story; be careful, the station wagon is huge, everything is there to make you swoon; my speakers liked it, they even got me out of the dust of the 80s by pushing the volume.

"Out of the Black" for the 2nd side and an old-shool sound for a melodic title with a licked riff, voices and choirs as before and the solo which glides by itself; title à la MAIDEN à la PRIEST, à la LIZZY. "Forest" paf stop ballad; text on the pandemic, the loss of a loved one, melancholy harmony just right; warm, languorous voice and latent declination with a keyboard touch. "Realms" opening medieval riff, we wait for the horde of Huns coming with their swords; the guitar riff that squirts, the musical voice that follows the rhythm, all that I like or how to combine text and instruments; it goes up, it's nervous and melodic, epic and agreed all the same, you can't have very good all the time. "Hold On" goes on suddenly, jerky air, the drums raise the atmosphere; Todd comes in softly with Chris' vocals on the verse; it's 80's atmosphere on the other hand without much novelty we agree; the whirling break with this melodic, fruity guitar saves the title; boom sequence with "Tormentum" the title: intro hard riff speed à la SLAYER, sharp voice MAIDEN which sends; more choirs, the repetitive air and it starts very heavy, only the riff suggests that it will last; 3 minutes, a few thoughts, a voice-over, pads, an incisive guitar solo that searches for itself then leaves which of Mike and Michael will have the last word; the backing vocals return before Todd regains control aided by a decrescendo. "Rebel Yell (bonus track)" synths in front for Billy's limpid cover with guitars in the background, additional title for the pleasure of remembering, also a reminder that time flies too.

QUEENSR?CHE released a catchy, varied, dynamic and sometimes atmospheric album with metal fusion and advanced proggy; latent atmospheres are created and avoid falling into a redundant phase; an album that does not invent but brings up to date the progressive fusion of metal with the progressive current. Good quality album which could be more noticed if certain titles had explored these prog breaks more deeply.(3.5)