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This guy is famously productive, having cranked out 15 albums in the last 8 years. With a definitive move into Symphonic Metal with last year's Sonic Savior, I was glad to have another album in so soon. When an artist produces a really good album, you wonder if they can measure up to it when they have to follow up, so my question was: is this as good as Sonic Savior?

Well, no, but it's still very good. This is a feast of riffs and leads, perhaps leaning a bit less on the metal this time out and more on the keys. The music is not as inventive as last time, and sounds more in line with Martikainen's previous works, without the surprising twists and turns that made the last album so refreshing. That said, this is still an epic workout in pummeling Symphonic Metal that is good enough that you won't care that it's all instrumental. Not a masterwork, but more than solid.