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Well, finally, 13 years after their demo Voices In Your Nightmare (although I think it was released long after that), Ivory Knight are back with their first, self-released full length album. Vocalist/bassist John D. Perinbam is the only member left from the original line-up.

The first thing I noticed is that John's voice is still as good, if not better than on their demo. In fact he does seem to have a better control of his voice on high notes, although in a couple of places it sounds like he tried to overdo it just a little, but you have to pay attention quite a bit to notice it. The other thing that is quite noticeable is that this is a lot more melodic than Voices in Your Nightmare, pretty much bordering on hard rock and melodic heavy metal. I'm not sure this is totally intentional, but at the same time it's not what I'd call a bad thing either. The guitar is not always too present, at times seemingly taking a background role, which is a little unfortunate since there are some good guitar parts in there and I think the songs could probably benefit if the guitar had more of its place - after all, in metal guitars must have a first place role, at least as important if not more important than the vocals. Maybe the production has something to do with it though. The guitar work is good nonetheless, I just wish it came out stronger.

I rarely pick favorite songs in my reviews, but the song Last Dance is, for me, definitely an highlight on this album, with a remarkable intro, lots of energy, more present guitar and especially John's vocals on this one are simply great and very catchy. Hell, I'd say the album is worth getting just for this song! Great stuff. The "black sheep" in my opinion is the song that follows, Shattered Glass, which I can't stand for some reason. Go figure :). It has a little depressing edge to it that I don't like much. But even though it's my least favorite, it still enjoys some good vocal work and there's a guitar solo in there that's just great. Ok maybe I don't hate it that much after all! ;)

Overall, a strong comeback for Ivory Knight, and it shows great potential. Not as aggressive as their demo, but shows that the band can do one hell of a job and is here to stay. If you feel like treating yourself to some great melodic metal, head over to their web site, the CD is available for online ordering.