POISON SEED

"Poison Seed" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Kentucky based progressive power metal act Lethal. The album was released through Massacre Records in 1996. Despite being formed as far back as 1982, Lethal´s output had been relatively sparse, and it took the band five years to release something new (the 1995 EP "Your Favorite God") after the release of their debut full-length studio album "Programmed" from 1990. "Poison Seed" being released only a year after "Your Favorite God (1995)" could have been a sign, that Lethal would increase their release cycle, but it ended up being the last studio recording by the band in their initial run.

"Programmed (1990)" was a high quality US power metal album with progressive leanings, and fans of artists like Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, Heir Apparent, and Crimson Glory should feel right at home with that one. "Your Favorite God (1995)" displayed a slightly more progressive contemporary heavy rock/metal sound, and that tendency is continued on "Poison Seed".

Although at the core the music on "Poison Seed" is still 80s oriented US power metal, Lethal have injected huge amounts of alternative heavy rock/metal elements to their sound, which ultimately makes it a bit of an odd combination of musical styles. Think what it would sound like if you combined the sound of Queensrÿche/Fates Warning with the sound of Soundgarden/Alice in Chains. It definitely could have been an interesting experiment, but it does end up sounding a bit directionless. It feels like the band are trying to hold on to their roots while adjusting to the contemporary musical climate, and in the end it sounds forced and calculated. Another issue here is that the songwriting is a bit uninspired and very few tracks stick after the album has finished playing.

...and it´s really too bad, because the elements for success are there in abundance. High level musicianship, a professional and detailed sound production, and musicians who are obviously capable of writing effectful music. They just hit the buttons wrong here. When that is said "Poison Seed" is still a quality release on many parameters and a 3 star (60%) rating may be in the low end if you take the positives into consideration, but the songwriting and the awkward mix of musical styles just don´t work and end up dragging the rating down.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)