HARMAGEDON

This is a professional, but unoriginal progressive symphonic power metal recording. The most original thing is the obvious Christian message, and not a subtle one at that. Well, you've got your riffs, fast and slower melodic guitar solos, synthesizer runs, rumbling organ, epics, including a six-minute instrumental freak-out on Rapture, and multi-tracked vocals aiming for the anthemic. Aiming, because the singer, Ted Leonard (of American bands Enchant and Spock's Beard), has a good voice, but not exactly metal. Song structures are loose, with various vocal segments, some repeating, some not, linked by lenghty shredding-style instrumentals. To repeat, musicians are competent. Such greats as Neil Morse, Jordan Rudess and Derek Sherinian wouldn't have lent their talents here for nothing, although, to tell the truth, their contributions are not exactly distinguishable. It's just the second-handed-ness of the record that I have a problem with.