Finally, this has to be one of the most anticipated releases so far this year. This cd features some of the finest talents in the world of melodic metal today including Jens Johansson on keyboards (Stratovarius, Malmsteen, Snake Charmer, Johansson Brothers etc.), Anders Johansson on drums (Johansson Brothers, Snake Charmer etc.), Gøran Edman on vocals (Glory, Madison, John Norum, Street Talk, Talisman, Malmsteen, Brazen Abbott etc.), and Michael Romeo on guitars and bass (Symphony X, Phantom's Opera). So far only released in Japan, this is a sure winner.

So what do these masterminds offer us this time around ? First, the Japanese version has 11 songs all in all. One song is a Japanese bonustrack. Two tracks are instrumentals. All songs are written by Johansson/Johansson, except the last track "Alone" which is written by Johansson/Johansson/Romeo.

Stylewise the music is catchy melodic heavy with a slight neoclassical feeling to it, but not more than you would come to expect from these guys. Opener "The Last Viking" starts off with nice pumping hammond style keyboards backed by a nice guitarriff by Romeo. A great chorus and the classy vocals of Edman make this song complete. Actually, the whole album is very hammond oriented, which was very surprising actually. It sort of gives the album a special sound, because it's not often you hear hammond in modern melodic heavy. Jens tasty keys is everywhere on this cd.

There are a lot of nice keyboard solos to be found here and the combination Johansson/Romeo seem to work out perfectly. There are quite a few instrumental parts in these songs and great ripping solo duels after solo duels find place. Romeo's powerful guitarwork contribute to give the songs both drive and tempo. Fans of Romeo's characteristic guitarstyle will without doubt enjoy this cd. The musical approach is maybe not as heavy as Symphony X, but Romeo's guitarwork is not to be mistaken and of course, nothing less than outstanding. It's still easy to draw comparisons to Symphony X by the guitarwork and its impact on these songs, especially on those songs without the hammondstyle keys. The drumming of Anders Johansson is as always faultless, being both powerful and playful. And picking Edman for this job was a very smart move. Edman fits this music perfectly and is sounding better than ever. Not many vocalist know this kind of music better than this man, and his voice is just getting better as the years go by. With Edman as frontman, his experience and soulful voice, this cd is nothing but superior. There are no fillers in sight on this cd, both instrumentals rips, and all songs with vocals are as good as it gets within this style of music. There are two slowpaced songs, I would not exactly call them ballads, but compared to the other songs, "Fading away" and "In the mirror" are more close to ballads. Both are excellent songs, with the latter song coming somewhat close to Malmsteen/Symphony X.

In fact I was a bit disappointed after my first listen to this album. I heard that some of these songs were good, but the overall impression was not as good as expected. After listening to the album a few more times, I found that all songs were exceptionally good, and they did fulfill my expectations, so be patient, give the cd a few spins, before you decide. Surprisingly, neither of the instrumentals are bonustracks, but track 7 "Samurai" is, and it's just as good as any of the other songs. The production by the Johansson brothers is excellent, letting all instruments and vocals come forward in the mix, where also both depth and heaviness is good. For fans of these musicians, their previous and present bands, neoclassical and melodic heavy, this cd is essential and well worth the Japanse price. I give this cd 9,5 out of 10 points. The musical geniuses of the Johansson brothers is once again proved !