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Washington state's Fifth Angel was a late 80s band that scored a big label deal with Epic Records and put out a couple of quality records (Fifth Angel in 86, Time Will Tell in 89) but never resonated with a wide audience. This is probably due to them playing the kind of melodic hard rock/heavy metal that is all the rage today but was passé at a time when thrash was king and extreme forms of metal were emerging.

Fast-forward nearly 30 years and Fifth Angel are back with their third album, The Third Secret. Many of the original members are back in the fold, including ubiquitous drummer Ken Mary and guitarist Kendall Bechtel who also handles the lead vocals now. As I mentioned, Fifth Angel plays melodic heavy metal and I find The Third Secret to be heavier than their earlier albums. The guitars have more bite and Bechtel has a satisfyingly powerful voice that suits the music quite well (not to say original vocalist Ted Pilot was a slouch). The songwriting is excellent and the performances polished to a shine. Middle-eastern rhythms are employed with great effect on "Queen of Thieves" and the title track and, while those are the highlights for me, the rest of the songs are all quite good as well.

Fifth Angel aren't breaking any new ground, they are just taking a formula created by the likes of Dio, Rainbow and even early Dokken and executing it perfectly.