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Artist: Jon Oliva's Pain |
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'Festival'
is the fourth and the most diverse of the J.O.P. albums and takes up where
the 2008 opus 'Global Warning' left off. Again we have a smorgasbord of
musical styles all wrapped up in Oliva’s powerful vocals. The
album opens up in sheer no hold barred metal style with ‘Lies’, a
real meat and bones rock extravaganza that pushes the J.O.P. sound even
further than 'Global Warning' did, with both Tom McDyne and Matt Laporte's
guitar work the definite drive behind this one. That
heavy feel is carried on into one of my favourites off the album, the
anthemic tones of ‘Death Rides A Black Horse’. This time the
keyboards are the dominant factor on this song. There is still plenty of
great guitar work but the keys have been brought forward in the mix and
give the track an air of quality and a slightly Progressive Metal edge. Well
what can I say about the next song, the title track ‘Festival’, this
one will haunt your very soul as the ringmaster Oliva welcomes you to
his nightmare carnival where entry is free but exit will cost you your
very soul. A real manic slice of metal. A genius that only Oliva could
imagine. Driven guitars and one hell of back-beat mixed with a dark
orchestral background are the order of the day on this song. A real metal monster and a track that you will not
hear the likes of again this year. After
the might of the title track things get a little more grungy with
another of my favourites ‘Afterglow’ before returning to the all out
metal assault with ‘Living On The Edge’, which will just blow you away
if you're into twin guitar metal as both guitarist share licks on this one
and I have to mention the rhythm section of Kevin Rothney and Chris
Kinder, who just power on through on this one. It's
hard on the brakes as things take a gentler refrain with the excellent
‘Looking For Nothing’. This is where Oliva shows he has a great voice
for a ballad. Then it's back on the gas for the riff laden ‘The Evil
Within’. Again Rothney and Kinder nail this one to the ground, with
huge bass lines and big drum beats, while the twin guitar of McDyne and
Laporte throw out the some huge metal licks. If
there is one real surprise on the album then it has to be ‘Winter
Haven’. Once again the tempo is brought down as the semi acoustic guitar and
the traditional metal guitar harmonize to great effect on this song,
while Oliva shows us once again just what he can do. This song is almost Pink
Floyd in it’s essence. Just
as your melting away from 'Winter Haven' you're dragged back to the dark
side with ‘I Fear You’, a track based around a kick-ass bass line
courtesy of Rothney and some sublime keyboards from the big man himself.
The album is rounded off with the majestic mellow tones of ‘Now’,
which once again features a rich mix of harmonies that is the perfect end to what will be
one of my favourite albums of the year for sure. |
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Tracklisting: 1. Lies |
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