DeadRisen ‘DeadRisen’
Album Review By Adam McCann
AFM Records/Progressive Metal
When it comes to musicians, Mike LePond is no stranger to plying his trade with other bands and with Symphony X seemingly on an indefinite hiatus, LePond has joined DeadRisen; a new project featuring Rod Rivera and Dan Prestup of Rivera/Bomma and completed with Tony Stahl on keyboards and Will Shaw taking the vocal stand as the band release their eponymous debut album.
This is a decent first effort by a dyed in the wool band, it is therefore a professional release, oozing with the experience and charisma exuded by a band of this nature. What this means is that ‘DeadRisen’ is a full torrent of progressive metal delivered in the classic heavy metal style dominated by LePond’s parent band Symphony X. This driving metal can be best seen during ‘Prophecy’, ‘Destiny’ and ‘Chains of Time’, these tracks have all the appeal of Dream Theater, Silent Assassins and Symphony X; yet instead, ‘DeadRisen’ doesn’t have the grandiose nature of the early Symphony X, so don’t expect ‘Divine Winds of Tragedy’ but there is the pizzazz of the newer releases by the progressive metal titans. Furthermore, Shaw may not have the timbre of Russell Allen, but he does exceptionally well with what he does have and it is this which makes ‘DeadRisen’ very, very good. Of course, this means that ‘DeadRisen’ is a little rough around the edges and is part of its charm; there is an infectious quality about this album that requires it to be replayed over and over again and top it off, this occurs without it sounding boring, predictable or stagnant.
With Michael Romeo releasing part one of a solo album last year and Allen pissing about doing anything but Symphony X; LePond has taken up the reins and thank fuck, ‘DeadRisen’ is a great album and worth a listen for any classic progressive metal fan. Those who do will not be disappointed.
Rating : 86/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
