BURN THE SUN

I'm not sure why I'm not giving this a five star rating, but I guess it just falls short of being a masterpiece. Why? Well, perhaps it's because there is still some growth left to do and some songs do remind me of other bands/songs/musicians. It is quite diverse, with each song having it's own flavour, lots of prog metal drumming and crunchy riffs, a few metal songs, a few power ballads, a fairly commercial flamenco song, in fact this is relatively 'commercial'' or maybe I should say accessible, it could almost get on radio, but the first sign of a drum fill or tempo change would make it too challenging for normal listeners. Jorn Lande, since departed, uses his voice well and manages to sound like Coverdale, Bjork Dio, Sting and perhaps others. He probably goes a bit too over the top (ie. belts it out too much) on this album, later recordings with Masterplan see him reigning it in a bit more. Østby 's guitar work is excellent, taste, diversity and the right amount of chunk and flashiness. This adds to the dynamic nature of the songs. Macaluso's drumming is again flashy and melds the different time signatures together and is tasteful and interesting - great to listen to. I love Coven's bass work with all the little fills, again, I call this tasty! Last but not least, Olausson's keys fit perfectly, showing a broad range of sounds that really set this album apart. It's the breadth of the work which really makes it interesting, some songs could pass for a Bjork, Sting or boy band, whilst others belt out like a full on traditional metal band. Hopefully they can find a replacement vocalist to match Lande's talent, maybe this will even strengthen their sound. Burn the Sun is almost a masterpiece!