Released By : Liljegren Records
Genre : Power Metal
Link : http://www.facebook.com/ReinXeed
Lineup:
Tommy Johansson – Vocals, Guitars, Keys
Calle Sundberg – Guitars
Alfred Fridhagen – Drums
Nic Svensson – Bass
Tracklist:
01. Welcome
02. Life Will Find A Way
03. Follow Me
04. Save Us
05. Stranger Tides
06. Somewhere In Time
07. Freedom
08. No Fate
09. Temple Of The Crystal Skulls
10. Welcome To The Theater
If you have followed the Power Metal scene to any degree over the last few years then there’s every likelihood that you have heard of Tommy Johansson. As well as rapidly building a large fan base for his main band REINXEED, he has also guested on many other releases in the genre, been a part of many other projects and bands and even become a YouTube sensation for a time too. While most of the things he has been involved in have been enjoyable to follow up, this latest REINXEED album WELCOME TO THE THEATER may well be his most accomplished piece of work yet.
WELCOME TO THE THEATER is kind of a concept album based on the majestic movie scores that get all of our blood pumping in certain films. I believe each track on offer is meant to be directly inspired by a certain film but I haven’t been able to decipher all of them yet. Some of the films that are more obvious are ones like Jurassic Park (LIVE WILL FIND A WAY), The Terminator (NO FATE), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls (TEMPLE OF THE CRYSTAL SKULLS), Pirates of the Caribbean (ON STRANGER TIDES) and a couple of less cryptic ones like ON STRANGER TIDES and SOMEWHERE IN TIME. The album is also book-ended with an intro and outro that fit the theme perfectly, especially the intro track WELCOME, which is totally film-score material.
Theater of Rein
The concept itself does sound a little cheesy, and of course with any Power Metal release there IS a certain element of cheese involved, but overall it works, probably better than it should really. Johansson’s vocals are just getting better with each new release and to think he could improve even more as time goes on is a scary concept. His guitar work here is also utterly fantastic, at times even rivalling the mighty DRAGONFORCE for pure speed and precision. The song-writing on offer here is pretty impressive too when you take into account the fact that the band have taken a certain movie and then attempted to write a new tale in its universe whilst still staying true to the source material.
Just as they did with their previous album, a concept album about the Titanic, REINXEED offer up enough uniqueness to be classed as stand-outs in a much clogged up genre. Sometimes it’s good to listen to a Power Metal release that attempts to be serious, but it’s more enjoyable to listen to this style of music with a slight amount of cheese and a touch of tongue-in-cheek. In that regard, WELCOME TO THE THEATER is a total success and yet another step toward the world domination that REINXEED and Tommy Johanssen have threatened for a while now.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 8/10
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