Power Quest
Sixth Dimension
Inner Wound Recordings
2017
I will not pussyfoot about it; there are a bunch of bands I do not like in power metal, with the exception of a “few” tunes and Dragonforce, are a prime example of that, as their simplified and ultrafast style doesn’t really cut it for me… and guess what, Steve Williams was their initial keyboard player, during the demo years, before the name change from Dragonheart to DragonForce. So it’s no stretch of the imagination that when Power Quest was established, their style was not a million miles away, if not a little more “earthly”. Still revolving door member policies and rather weak vocalists early on made the bands initial releases “patchy” at best.
But as it happens after a hiatus, which saw even Williams give up during 2013, but coming back in 2016 along with most importantly a new vocalist in Ashley Edison seemed to re-energize the band, who released the darker and much stronger EP “Face the Raven” in the same year. Changing both guitarists this year has again diluted the sound a little, towards a lighter proposition, but at least the music remains sufficiently riffy and biting with Edison managing almost single handedly to one up the entire band’s game. There’s a bit of a throwback to the sound to their earlier period but Edison has the right sort of voice to keep the band from sounding too cheesy. Think of this as matured Cheddar! The older wiser cousins of DragonForce, who also seem to be slowly shedding their shredding aspirations for something more substantial and also Freedom Call, who despite being decent players, never had any good songs to speak off.
Songs like the storming opener “Lords of Tomorrow”, the melodic “Starlight City”, the epic and uplifting “Kings and Glory” with its superb chorus or the harder and darker edged “Face the Raven”, but also pretty much every other tune notwithstanding the brooding eight minute title track, offer a mature, earthly and easy to appreciate take on European power metal, with British sensitivities.
Probably the best work by the Brits so far, that seem the closest to fulfilling their mission and finding the answers to their quest for power metal, with this album.
But as it happens after a hiatus, which saw even Williams give up during 2013, but coming back in 2016 along with most importantly a new vocalist in Ashley Edison seemed to re-energize the band, who released the darker and much stronger EP “Face the Raven” in the same year. Changing both guitarists this year has again diluted the sound a little, towards a lighter proposition, but at least the music remains sufficiently riffy and biting with Edison managing almost single handedly to one up the entire band’s game. There’s a bit of a throwback to the sound to their earlier period but Edison has the right sort of voice to keep the band from sounding too cheesy. Think of this as matured Cheddar! The older wiser cousins of DragonForce, who also seem to be slowly shedding their shredding aspirations for something more substantial and also Freedom Call, who despite being decent players, never had any good songs to speak off.
Songs like the storming opener “Lords of Tomorrow”, the melodic “Starlight City”, the epic and uplifting “Kings and Glory” with its superb chorus or the harder and darker edged “Face the Raven”, but also pretty much every other tune notwithstanding the brooding eight minute title track, offer a mature, earthly and easy to appreciate take on European power metal, with British sensitivities.
Probably the best work by the Brits so far, that seem the closest to fulfilling their mission and finding the answers to their quest for power metal, with this album.