Pathosray must be one the best kept secrets in metal for years. Out the blue comes an album that manages to blend influences like Nevermore, Fates Warning, Evergrey, Dream Theater and Symphony X into a wonderful mixture that never sounds like a mere rip-off.

This is their debut album simply entitled: 'Pathosray' and they have prior to this only released 2 demos, before focussing on this release. I know it is some big names I am throwing into the pot, but Pathosray have the aggressiveness of Nevermore, the technical level of Dream Theater (well almost, no band reaches them), the musicianship of Symphony X, the flair for a strong melody line of Evergrey and innovativeness of Fates Warning.

Big praises for such a young band, but believe me they have the music to prove you right. Each of the eight songs (and a short intro) has the energy, the technical level and the maturity to stand on its own. The musical talent is at such a high level that you often completely forget that we are dealing with a debut album - very impressive. No weak links at all from the brilliant vocalist Marco Sandron (no weird Italian accents here), thru the powerful riff attack by Alessio Vellisgic and he delivers some great duels with keyboard player Gianpaolo Rinaldi, who keeps the fine balance between showing off and just playing just right, and to the rhythm section (Fabio D'Amore on bass and Ivan Moni Bidin on drums), which is tight and well founded in the sound.

Recorded back home in Italy, they felt the need for something special was needed for the mix, so they turned to one of the best in the business: Tommy Hansen. And the sound is well balanced, crystal clear and powerful, so they chose wisely. Another fantastic Matttias Norén art work rounds this impressive debut album from Pathosray off.

Pathosray has delivered a great cornerstone for a promising career, and there is room to grow for them and with their abilities I am sure they'll be able to top this album with their next one. While we wait for that to happen do get this awesome debut album, which I am sure will go down as one of the best debut albums of 2007.