There`s nothing more exciting than finding a brand new cd in the mail, by a band who seemingly come from out of the blue, that kicks major ass. This is the case with the Swedish band Majestic.

Majestic was formed back in 1997 by keyboardwiz Richard Andersson and guitarist Peter Espinoza(Espinoza, Nasty Idols etc), but was at that time going by the name "Lab Rat". The band was later joined by drummer Joel Linder (Tenebre), bassist Martin Wezowski (The drugs, Original Sin) and Jonas Blum from Pole Position, which released a fantastic debut cd a few years ago.

The cd has 11 songs and is 51 minutes long. The cd kicks off with "Golden Sea", an absolute monster of a song. This is one bombastic song which almost explodes with power, energy and virtuosity. Neoclassical elements, a great melodyline and a chorus to die for. Clearly one of the best songs of the genre so far this year !

The first thing you notice is the amazing keyboardwork of R. Andersson which is just mindblowing. The neoclassical influences is obvious and shine through on the whole cd. Then there is the guitars of P. Espinoza which is simply outstanding. Espinozas improvement since Nasty Idols is almost unbelievable. He is all over this cd and surely knows his way around the fretboard. Espinoza and Andersson obviously enjoy eachothers company pulling off one solo duel after the other.

The songs are based upon heavy, powerful guitarriffs and the wizardry of Anderssons keyboards. The vocals of J. Blum is as always very strong, and compared to his work with Pole Position he`s grown too, showing a more mature and powerful side. Of course the bass and drums are top notch, but might be overlooked by the intens and dominating guitars/keys/vocals.

It`s not often you find a cd where all songs are killers and where the songs keep your attention all the way through. This is excactly what Majestic has done with their debut cd. The songs come out as extremely powerful, energetic and bombastic, which is something that is sorely missed on most of the releases today. A breath of fresh air ! The cd is filled with superb songs of top melodic metal with neoclassical influences. The maturity of the songwriting and musicianship is exceptional and lovers of guitargods and keyboardwizards will absolutely go crazy over this. The melodies are very melodic, including great melodylines, bridges and choruses.

I rate this cd to 9.5 out of 10 points and recommend this cd to fans of bands like Malmsteen, Artension, Royal Hunt, Symphony X etc, or in general fans of melodic metal. The surprise of the year so far !!!!