"Part I: Lost in the Veil of Darkness" Review by Alexander Meyer
MY REVELATIONS Webzine (Germany, March 2013)
Band: ALLOY 20
Album Title: Alloy 20 (EP)
Label / Distribution: Own production
Website: www.alloy20band.com
Release Date: 11/16/2012
Duration: 21:33 minutes
Author: Alexander Meyer
Rating: 13 out of 15 points
What to expect when former musicians of US-Metal cult bands like Tension and Omega Point come together to make the shit hit the fan once again? Well, apparently a metalhead`s wet dreams come true. With this EP ALLOY 20 remind me big time of the legendary mini album by Queensryche. Of course, the opener "Demon Of Destruction" is not really a match to the perhaps best metal song of all times “Queen Of The Reich”, but the following “Silent Calls” describes an unprecedented arc of suspense from its balladic beginning (just like “The Lady Wore Black”) to its eruptive guitar solo in the end. After that “Veil Of Darkness” is a bit faster and straighter again, before the second semi-ballad “More To Give” brings tears to your eyes.
This is US-Powermetal at its best! And even if the above mentioned “Queen Of The Reich”-EP will forever be without a match, ALLOY 20 can still go even with EPs by Cities ("Annihilation Absolute"), Lethal ("Your Favorite God") or Leviathan, which is sensational enough. In times in which Queensryche split up in a disgusting mudslinging and in which Geoff Tate hasn`t only lost parts of his voice but also most of his songwriting skills, Jeff Grove sort of revives the young Geoff Tate with his thrilling vocals, even if he isn`t a youngster himself anymore. Hence he had long, blonde, curly hair back in the beginning of the nineties when he recorded the cult demo “Infinite Rhyme” with Omega Point, whilst he is now bald and wears a goatie.
If ALLOY 20 manage to create a longplayer of the same quality but with an acceptable cover without a word art banner next time, I will gladly give them an A plus. For the time being it`s “just” an A minus.
MY REVELATIONS Webzine (Germany, March 2013)
Band: ALLOY 20
Album Title: Alloy 20 (EP)
Label / Distribution: Own production
Website: www.alloy20band.com
Release Date: 11/16/2012
Duration: 21:33 minutes
Author: Alexander Meyer
Rating: 13 out of 15 points
What to expect when former musicians of US-Metal cult bands like Tension and Omega Point come together to make the shit hit the fan once again? Well, apparently a metalhead`s wet dreams come true. With this EP ALLOY 20 remind me big time of the legendary mini album by Queensryche. Of course, the opener "Demon Of Destruction" is not really a match to the perhaps best metal song of all times “Queen Of The Reich”, but the following “Silent Calls” describes an unprecedented arc of suspense from its balladic beginning (just like “The Lady Wore Black”) to its eruptive guitar solo in the end. After that “Veil Of Darkness” is a bit faster and straighter again, before the second semi-ballad “More To Give” brings tears to your eyes.
This is US-Powermetal at its best! And even if the above mentioned “Queen Of The Reich”-EP will forever be without a match, ALLOY 20 can still go even with EPs by Cities ("Annihilation Absolute"), Lethal ("Your Favorite God") or Leviathan, which is sensational enough. In times in which Queensryche split up in a disgusting mudslinging and in which Geoff Tate hasn`t only lost parts of his voice but also most of his songwriting skills, Jeff Grove sort of revives the young Geoff Tate with his thrilling vocals, even if he isn`t a youngster himself anymore. Hence he had long, blonde, curly hair back in the beginning of the nineties when he recorded the cult demo “Infinite Rhyme” with Omega Point, whilst he is now bald and wears a goatie.
If ALLOY 20 manage to create a longplayer of the same quality but with an acceptable cover without a word art banner next time, I will gladly give them an A plus. For the time being it`s “just” an A minus.