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An interesting addition to the Power Metal cannon here from US newcomers Forever's Edge, a talented quintet featuring members of Revolution Renaissance, Empyreon, and Suspyre. There's a distinct originality to the music found on their debut disc, the fresh-faced Chaotic Silence, though this is more due to execution rather than composition. Playful and energetic, their sound flirts with symphonic progression in the Serenity vein, while retaining the melody and bite of modern Sonata Arctica and, to a lesser extent, Evergrey. It's all very easy on the ears thanks to a light production that makes the guitars nothing but a fuzzy cloth draped over the keys and processed percussion; but the songs themselves are varied enough to keep interest, some going for heavier aspects of the genre, others more commercial and contemporary.

Suspyre vocalist Clay Barton nudges the album into progressive territory, having the kind of voice bands like Circus Maximus seem to employ, so there's not an awful lot of ball-grabbing falsetto to be had (strangely, this guy would be a good fit for DragonForce), but there's still plenty of guitar/keyboard runs to please the Power Metal nuts, with enough changes and chug-a-chug riffing to get the proggers going. Forever's Edge aren't keen on preening their style with a whole load of hooks, so while their debut is a safe purchase, it is rather forgettable. Album number two should be an attractive listen.