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So last year Wyvern got their 1990 debut The Red Flame of Pain re-released, and it pretty much sucked. This is a ‘new’ disc, despite that they state that this material was recorded between 1998 and 2002, so even the most recent stuff here is 8 years old.

But I am always willing to give a band a chance. Nobody is happier than I am when a sucky band turns around and makes a great album. It does happen, but it didn’t happen here. It’s not really that Wyvern’s music is bad; it’s that the vocals really, really suck. Singer Fabio Bonaccorsi used to be just adequate, but here he renders the worst performances of his life with awful vocal melodies that are irritating when they are not boring, and his singing is off-key and passionless. When he sucks air and goes for a big note, they always come out flaaaaaaat and you just wince. The mix on his voice is bad too, and the backing vocals are often also off-key and out of tempo, so the whole thing just sounds awkward and embarrassing. Wyvern have decent music and solid playing, but until they get a real vocalist they will continue to produce crap like this.