BOOK OF SECRETS

Balance of Power is one of the bands from UK that had some succes in late '90's early '00. Keeping in mind that the british progressive metal scene is almost inexistent, with few exceptions, Balance of Power manage to have a moderate succes in prog metal circles. Book of secrets from 1998 is their second effort, a combination between melodic power metal with some progressive metal leanings. The album sounds strong, with catchy riffs and good vocals made by Lance King (later in Pyramaze). What I like to this band is that they are not another melodic power metal band from hundreds , they have a quite great sound, very up tempo pieces whre the guitar duo make a great job. The keyboards are not so in front like on a pure progressive metal band, but keep the atmosphere at the highest level and nice arrangements. I like a lot the voice on this album of Lance King, is just perfect for this kind of music, not a spectacular voice for many, I just saw some reviews on other sites and they were complening a lot about Lance voice, strange, because I found him a real good singer for such music. So, a pleasent album whre melodic parts are very well interluded with more progressive ones, a nice album, nothing spectacular but enjoyble all the way. 3.-3.5 stars for this album,worth some spind if you like this kind of music. Similar in places with Royal Hunt for the fat sound and bombastic arrangements.