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Conflicted's biggest asset has to be the award winning 4 octave vocals of Jason Orton, which might also be their downfall. His high-pitched vocals are clearly the signature of the band and his vocals defines their sound, but his style might not be everyone's cup of tea. I am a big fan of high-pitched vocalists that have the control and the stamina to pull those screams off and Jason Orton delivers an amazing vocal performance on "Never Be Tamed".

The backbone of their intense and powerful metal is clearly progressive metal mixed nicely with power metal, and the material on offer should equally appeal to fans of bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X as well Iron Maiden and Judas Priest (when Ripper Owens was a part). But I think it is a pity that most of their songs stay in mid-tempo, I miss some diversity and the drumming does at times sound a bit too monotone and uninspired.

But that is just me nit-picking some because "Never Be Tamed" is a solid debut album with an extraordinary vocal performance, one that surely isn't for everyone. Combined with a good production and some well-thought out and played songs we have an album that surely will raise an eye-brow or two.

Conflicted proves with "Never Be Tamed" that they are a band with a great future ahead of them... do get on the ride from the start.

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