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There was a lot of positive press about Decoding The Soul when it came out in 2004, and for the most part it was justified. At the time I loved this album, but we've seen so much innovation since then it sounds somewhat stilted now, lost in a mire of cliché. Still, Magnitude Nine were one of the better bands from the early years of the new millennium who played a kind of melody-laced Progressive Metal that didn't want to be Dream Theater. Their sound is caught somewhere between Symphony X (on their simpler days) and Enchant, especially the vocals of Corey Brown, which are of the sweetened, almost pop variety. The album was produced by Michael Viscera, and as you can imagine, it's not the best recording ever, sounding a little like the Malmsteen albums he sung on (think The Seventh Sign meets Magnum Opus), and yet despite the dusty drums and raspy guitars, "New Dimension", "Lies Within The Truth" and "Walk Through The Fire" are all top notch tunes, saluting the heroes of the genre without making their influences seem trite and transparent.

Fans of Vanden Plas, Thought Chamber, and Soul Secret will enjoy Magnitude Nine's honest approach, though those with a hankering for something with more meat on its bones (from the Zero Hour or Spiral Architect school, perhaps), should look elsewhere.