Composer & guitarist Nicolas van Dyk and vocalist Ray Alder (Fates Warning) have grown into a really strong combination, and with this, their third album they have really found their own identity and have defined their own style and sound. This is their best and most mature album to date.

Intelligent, clever and very well played progressive metal is on offer here, but simply to label their music as progressive metal is a bit too easy, because they do have the dynamics from power metal as well as fine elements such as harmonies and catchy choruses from melodic metal.
But the fundamentals are still complex guitar structures, strong vocals from Ray Alder, a very tight rhythm section; Chris Quirarte (Prymary) on drums and new guy Sean Andrews on bass, fine tuned keyboard parts and fine and skilful guitar leads, mostly from Bernie Versailles (Agent Steel).

Nine cleverly arranged and flawless played compositions paired with a Ray Alder in top shape makes this album a real listening pleasure and it should bring much joy to fans of the genre. The original release will feature 2 cover-songs; "Precious Things" (Tori Amos) and "Love to Love" (UFO), which I really look forward to listen to (they are sadly not on this promo-disc), because both are not your 'normal' cover-version kind of songs.

Ray's melancholic vocals brings up some reminiscence to some of my favorite Fates Warning albums 'Disconnected' and 'Parallels', and his performance alone makes this album worth your money. So if you like your metal with a progressive twist, then make sure you put this album on your shopping list and enjoy the sonic joy ride called 'The Origin of Ruin' by Redemption.