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Heavy Rain is the sixth album from Germany's Ivory Tower and comes five years after their previous release, Stronger, which I liked but felt it was too long. Heavy Rain is nearly 20 minutes shorter than Stronger, which I appreciate, and the songwriting is perhaps more direct and stripped down. The progressive elements are not as prevalent, so the bulk of Heavy Rain sounds similar to much of the melodic metal stuff that was in vogue in the early 2000s like Masterplan, Black Majesty, and even Deris-era Helloween. The vocals are strong with a little bit of grit, the melodies are big and expansive, choruses are easy on the ears, you get the picture. It's a great sounding album with a few cuts that stand above the rest like "60 Seconds" and "Monster," nothing truly amazing but nothing remotely bad, either. I don't know if it will win any converts because it is on the safe side but that also makes it a sure bet for existing fans. Ivory Tower has hit the bullseye of melodic, crunchy, Euro-metal with Heavy Rain and that should please those fans that dig the style.