A GENTLEMAN'S HURRICANE

I'll be the next person to say this: 'A Gentleman's Hurricane' is the 'Operation: Mindcrime' of the 2000's. MIND'S EYE have taken quite a different approach in this album. 1.) They wrote a story of an assassin overwhelmed by guilt who confides in a priest at a church in Virginia. 2.) They've become much heavier. Although each of their albums have gotten gradually heavier, but 'A Gentleman's Hurricane' knocks all of MIND'S EYE's albums out of the water. Bassist/guitarist Johan Niemann brings a much crunchier guitar sound to the table, and drummer/keyboardist Daniel Flores is now much more energetic behind the kit than before. 3.) They thought of a pretty neat packaging idea. Along with the standard album, is a DVD loaded with extras, and a booklet with lyrics printed quite cleverly and a comic strip that goes along with the concept found in the album.

MIND'S EYE's darker sound is quite apparent with ''Praying For Confession'', with a threatening, cinematic intro complete with a soliloquy from the main character, a child's choir, and an excellent performance from the band. ''Seven Days'' pops up out of nowhere with crushing guitars and solid rhythm. Andreas Novak shines vocally here. This is quite a catchy number, and my favorite off the album. ''Assassination'' opens with a Rudessesque keyboard motif and is another jarring track, along with ''Chaos Unleashed''. ''Hell's Invitation'' has another cinematic intro with a conversation between the assassin and the priest. Once again, it's heavy. ''Feed My Revolver'' is the best- known track off of the album. The song has an urgent rhythm with an arpeggiatic synth motif. ''Ashes to Ashes (In Land Lullaby)'' has a kinda weird intro, being mostly heavy, but for the chorus has a soft moment that looks back to the band's 'Into the Unknown' era. ''The Hour of Need'' is the sole ballad, containing a duet between Andreas and Mia Coldheart. The rest of the songs aren't much different, apart of the Celtic stylings of ''Graveyard Hands'' and the creepy rhythm of ''Skin Crawl''. ''Pandora's Musical Box'' closes the album the way it began, cinematically with a child's choir.

All in all, Mind's Eye have delivered their best album to date (and their heaviest.) Any fans of Queensrÿche or any heavy AOR-ish bands will be pleased here.