Diverse!
_-^-_ | 02/17/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Hmm, `essentially a modern update of the traditional Iron Maiden-like traditional "heavy metal" sound'? To me, only the first 2 songs sounded much like Iron Maiden. My favorites here are "07\03\47" (which has an unusual combination of a slow gentle chorus & intense ultra-fast verses, along with many guitar solos), "Dawn of Man" (a high-speed song with harmonized guitars), "Mysteries of Iniquity" (a jazz-oriented song), & "Goddess Arise" (a fast song with harmonic overdubbed vocals in the chorus). The thing I like best about this album is that it's not very repetitive; there are many different riffs & solos in most of the songs, tempo changes aren't uncommon, and each song sounds significantly different from the others. I'd recommend this album to fans of Megadeth's album "Rust in Peace" and fans of Accept's albums "Breaker" & "Restless & Wild" (Steel Prophet has a cover version of "Fast As A Shark" on their album "Genesis" & also on the Accept tribute album)."
Generic maiden-influenced metal
Jason P. Sorens | Tonawanda, NY United States | 08/17/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"My considered opinion is that this is not Steel Prophet's best album. They have gone for a softer metal sound that is probably too laid-back to be considered "power metal." It is essentially a modern update of the traditional Iron Maiden-like traditional "heavy metal" sound. I recommend "Dark Hallucinations" above "Messiah," and many other power metal bands above recent Steel Prophet (Nocturnal Rites, Edguy, Helloween, Rage, Blind Guardian, Therion to name just a few). It is a shame that Steel Prophet, once signing to a "major" label and getting good production, have not continued the intricate progressive power metal style of their very early releases."