Alex Rudi Pell, is a very prolific artist who has released 22 studio albums, of which this is number 21. He was previously in Steeler (not the Yngwie and Ron Keel outfit) who released 4 albums, so he is no slouch when coming up with material.
He seems to model his sound on Ronnie Dio era Rainbow and he bows at the temple of Mr Blackmore. This album however, doesn’t get going until we get to Side 3 and the crunching track, Follow The Beast. Nice pounding double kicks, heavy crunching riff, and Johnny Gioeli screaming out those lyrics. The Rise Of Ankhoor is the other song that also stands out, with a folky Celtic vibe. The rest of the album seems to get lost in a mid-paced, very similar vibe.
It’s not bad per se, it just feels like going through the motions. My favourite period of Mr. Pell is with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals and this falls way short of that.
6.5/10 from The Grooveman.
