THE DIVINE WINGS OF TRAGEDY

3.5 stars. I was a little surprised at how many times I was reminded of QUEEN when listening to this record. QUEEN isn't exactly one of my favourite bands but it certainly didn't keep me from enjoying much of this album.

"Of Sons And Shadows" opens with fast and heavy riffs as synths come in to add to the sound. When the vocals arrive the riffs subside. We then get some QUEEN-like guitar and background vocals before the riffs come back and double bass drumming. Heavy riffs and synths to end it. "Sea Of Lies" features hard hitting drums and some good guitar melodies.This sounds like a cross between IRON MAIDEN and QUEEN. His vocals remind me of DIO at one point. A ripping guitar solo 3 minutes in. "Out Of The Ashes" has a thundering intro and later QUEEN-like harmonies. "The Accolade" is my favourite tune on the record. It really is a change of pace. It has a nice rhythm as vocals come in. The synths and drums are great ! I like everything about this song actually. Some good crunch as well.

"Pharoah" is heavy with lots of synths for 4 minutes. The vocals are outstanding and there is a terrific guitar solo in this passage as well. The interlude is MAIDEN-like as we get a tranquil break before going back to original melody. "The Eyes Of Medusa" is heavy with riffs and synths before vocals come in. "The Witching Hour" is an uptempo rocker. Blistering guitar solo 2 1/2 minutes in followed by a keyboard solo. "The Divine Wings Of Tragedy" is the epic at over 20 minutes in length. It opens with more QUEEN-like harmonies. The crunch comes before 2 minutes. The guitar comes flying in after 3 minutes as tempo has sped up. A keyboard solo follows. The vocals are back and we get some crunch after 6 minutes. The tempo continues to change as the guitar and keys trade solos. This is such a great section ! Vocals are DIO-like again as we get more solos and eventually some piano 17 minutes in followed by more guitar. Vocals back 19 minutes in as it ends in an uplifting way. "Candlelight Fantasia" is ballad-like with reserved vocals and soaring guitar to begin with. The tempo does pick up as we get a ripping guitar solo 5 minutes in.

These guys are all so amazing at what they do but I feel this is a little cheezy at times and that the band would hit their stride with the next album.