MASTERPLAN - review added 2nd June 2010
Album Review: Time To Be King (2010)
For fans of: Power Metal... and the legacy of Ronnie James Dio
Masterplan is one of those bands I always look forward to hearing new material from. Their first, self-titled album was magnificent. The songs were simply brilliant from start to finish, and tracks like 'Enlighten Me' and 'When Love Comes Close' were off the scale.
The couple of releases since then - Aeronautics (2005) and MKII (2007) - didn't boast the same level of quality, but were okay in the general scheme of things. Fortunately, that first release still dominates thoughts and makes any fresh tracks an inviting prospect.
Time To Be King sees the return of original golden-voiced singer Jorn Lande...and that has got to be good news. He joins Roland Grapow on guitars, Jan S. Eckert on bass, Axel Mackenrott on keyboards, and Mike Terrana on drums.
The sound is back to where Masterplan was with the first two albums. In fact it really is a combination of the sounds from both. Time To Be King is part power metal, part prog rock, and part symphonic film score. It's all pretty damn epic, and that feel is definitely helped by the vocals. Jorn Lande has always worn his Dio influences on his sleeve. On Time To Be King that influence is stronger than ever. This is an album that really continues the great-elf's style-legacy.
This is one of those albums that took A LOT of listens to get into, and it arguably hasn't revealed all its secrets yet. You'll really need to want to like this release and put the time in to get the best from it. Dismissing it after even 10 listens would be missing the point. The good news is that it's worth the effort. This is comfortably the band's second best release. No, it isn't as good as that debut, but it isn't as far off as it could have been.
The finest individual tracks include the huge 'Far From The End Of The World' (although it really does sound like a remix of 'Kind Hearted Light' from the debut album), the title track is a big experience, 'Lonely Winds Of War' is even bigger and better, and the symphonically-rich 'The Dark Road' - harking back to Europe's Last Look At Eden - is rather massively splendid.
There has been talk of this album having a poor mix, but for me the sound quality is spot on. I can only assume those people have been listening to a duff copy. Masterplan are definitely back on form here. No, they aren't quite at their best, and none of the songs are going to change the future of humanity, but this is still a giant step in the right direction.
Check out... 'The Dark Road'.
Track List:
01. Fiddle Of Time
02. Blow Your Winds
03. Far From The End Of The World
04. Time To Be King
05. Lonely Winds Of War
06. The Dark Road
07. The Sun Is In Your Hands
08. The Black One
09. Blue Europa
10. Under The Moon
Label: AFM Records
Artist's website(s): Masterplan , MySpace
