THE LONG ROAD HOME

"The Long Road Home" is the 5th full-length studio album by Canadian progressive/ power metal act Empyria. The album was released by Nightmare Records in June 2009. According to the liner notes in the booklet the songs are a mix of demo material, older unreleased material and new material. All songs are specifically recorded for this album though. One other thing I noticed reading the booklet is that Empyria emphasize that all audio tracks on the album are one takes, which in my understanding means, that there are no overdubs on the basic guitar, bass and drums tracks (feel free to correct me if I´m wrong). As they say in the booklet: "In keeping with our beliefs all tracks were performed live as full takes. Each in their entirety. By Humans. Not machines". A philosophy that demands respect in my book. There´s been a couple of lineup changes since their last album as former bassist/ lead vocalist Paul Falcon has returned to the fold to play bass on the album and Scott Gamble is the new drummer in the band.

The last album release by Empyria was "Sense of Mind" from 2002. So it´s been seven years between albums for Empyria but listening to "The Long Road Home" those years have more or less gone by unnoticed if you judge by the music style on the album. In the case of Empyria that´s definitely not a bad thing though as their progressive US power metal is a strong and powerful brew. "The Long Road Home" features several strong tracks and just to mention a few I think the strong album opener "The Endless Circle" (probably my favorite track by the band so far), "False Witness", the closing track "Returning Home" and another favorite of mine "Without Within" are some of the highlights on "The Long Road Home". All tracks on "The Long Road Home" have a consistent high quality level though. The heavy yet melodic guitars, the hard driving rythm section and the powerful and skilled lead vocalist Philip Leite are all defining for the heavy progressive power metal of Empyria.

The sound quality is excellent. A really powerful sound that suits the music well.

In my review of "Sense of Mind" I made comparisons to acts such as Fates Warning, Queensrÿche and Crimson Glory but acts such as Metal Church and Savatage are also valid references IMO. "The Long Road Home" is another great album by Empyria and fans of US influenced power metal with progressive elements are adviced to check out this album. A 3.5 star rating is deserved.

3.5 stars. EMPYRIA are a Prog-Metal band out of British Columbia, Canada and they sound like the Metal bands I grew up listening to in the eighties. I'm sure they listened to the same bands I did like IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST etc. but there is also a FATES WARNING flavour, my favourite Metal band. In the liner notes they say "Some of the material on this record appeared on the "Ornamental Ironworks" demo back in 1993, but was never commercially available. Reunited with original bassist / vocalist Paul Falcon, we re-recorded them to show the band's earlier Prog-Rock & Metal influences.This record also contains some new tracks and some others played live by EMPYRIA but never properly recorded or released". Also "In keeping with our beliefs, all tracks were performed as full takes, each in their entirety by humans not machines".

"Intro" is a countdown by Nassau then a transmission by them before it kicks into "The Endless Circle" quite heavily. Here we go ! This is heavy and catchy with vocals. Nice guitar solo 2 minutes in. "False Witness" opens with synths rolling in as crunchy guitars and drums follow. Nice bass too as the vocals arrive. I like the calm before a minute then it kicks back in hard the rest of the way. "No Other Way" has a relaxed sound as reserved vocals join in. It picks up each time on the chorus. Again some great prominant bass and it turns heavier before 3 minutes. "Lonely People" is catchy and uptempo with vocals.This is one of my favourites. Just an excellent vocal performance here. "Last Rites" is mellow to start with vocals then it turns heavy.This reminds me of FATES WARNING a lot.

"Can't Wait Forever" has this heavy undercurrent then it settles with vocals before 1 1/2 minutes. It kicks back in then settles back as contrasts continue. We get a guitar solo 3 1/2 minutes in. "Of All The Dreams" has some good energy with the focus on the vocals. Some ripping guitar after 2 minutes. Nice. "Without Within" is almost ballad-like to start but it picks up quickly and turns heavier. "Solitude" is a cool track with two acoustic guitars and water sounds. Atmosphere comes in late in this short instrumental. "Returning Home" has some nice deep bass as a poweerful soundscape rolls in. It settles back some as the vocals arrive. How good is this ! It turns instrumental 3 minutes in. This is fantastic ! Vocals are back after 4 1/2 minutes.The music stops and we can hear the waves rolling in at 6 minutes over and over to end it.

I really like the way this band "sounds" and those of you into straight-up Prog Metal should really check them out.