FANTASIEN

Marge Litch deserve more credit for pioneering the style known as "symphonic metal". With at least a half-dozen cassette releases already under their belt, they were doing this kind of thing years before the concept was a glint in the eye of the likes of Nightwish or Rhapsody.

That said, this album is not that hot, actually. The keyboard sounds (courtesy guitarist Yo[&*!#]eru Yokoyama) are a tad on the thin side, as are Junko Nakagawa's vocals. She possesses the squeaky "baby doll" voice one often hears in Japanese pop. But for a prog-metal act, it just doesn't cut it.

On the plus side, the songs are quite strong, featuring often memorable melodies. With a better production and better vocals, they could really shine.

Luckily for us, they went ahead and did it for us.