The last effort I reviewed from the band was 2003’s addictive “Vengeance Descending” record. I played the living bejesus out of the thing, as the occasional wanderings into cheese territory were easily offset by the ACCEPT-style riffing and leadwork reminiscent of “Seventh Son…” era MAIDEN. This latest disc also had me jumping for joy, but to a lesser extent. A couple of the bulbs seem burned out on the tree, but the ones that lit up the room were quite glorious. The title track is a delightful dose of metal candy, somewhere between George Lynch and Wolf Hoffman, as is the impeccable head-slammage of “Terminal Voyage”, which stirs up the blood faster than a shot glass full of Sweet 'n Low and a run around the block. The vocal performance of new full-time crooner Daniel Heiman rounds out the affair nicely, but I can’t really tell you if I notice an improvement over former singer Mikael Dahl without dragging out the last disc to compare.

Strangely, I’ve never been a fan of anything Kai Hansen did after “Walls of Jericho”, and I know he’s got to be a prime influence here, but I’ll take this soft-serve melodic metal dessert over just about anything in the genre. The bottom line is: if you don’t have “Vengeance Descending”, absolutely pick it up. This one comes in a close second with more of the same and a couple of filler tracks. But what do I know? I like sushi and hate cinnamon bagels, so go figure.

- Marchman

OFFICIAL SITE: www.crystaleyes.net

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Panic

RELATED ITEMS: CRYSTAL EYES - "Vengeance Descending", 2003