It’s been a while since I bought a new Yngwie album. It’s not because he doesn’t put many out, on the contrary – he throws albums out quite regularly. It’s just that I can only listen to so much new classical metal then all the lines seem to blur. It’s definitely more of the same, except with one big change. He now seems to sing as well.
The opening track, Wolves At The Door, is not a bad track with lots extreme widdly-diddly to keep all his disciples happy, and not a bad vocal either. It’s the songs with vocals that are actually the best for me anyway. The very Rainbow sounding, Relentless Fury, is probably my favourite track as it’s him at his best. Most of the album is shred, shred, and more shred, with as usual lots of classical pieces interspersed throughout the record.
There is no denying he is at the top of his game, and no one can play this new classical stuff as good as Yngwie can, it just leaves me a bit cold after a while. Sonically, the album does sound a bit dead in place and I would have liked a bit more brightness, but overall it’s a good effort and he produced it himself. I am not sure when I would go out and buy another Yngwie album, but this one will keep me going for now.
7.5/10 from The Grooveman.
