YNGWIE MALMSTEEN - review added 19th December 2008
Album Review: Perpetual Flame (2008)
For fans of: neo-classical metal... and flaming guitars
At Rock Realms we love Yngwie Malmsteen. Not only is he one of the best guitarists in the world, he writes bloody catchy music
He has the occasional misfire (check out his last record - Unleash The Fury) but normally he's a solid bet for a great release. For Perpetual Flame Yngwie parted ways with vocalist Doogie White and enlisted ex-Judas Priest and Iced Earth singer Tim 'Ripper' Owens.
Tim Owens is, in the nicest possible way, a strange one. Live, he is one of the best singers you will ever hear. His vocal range and power are beyond astonishing. On record something weird always happens to his voice. It's as if a robotized multi-layering production is used. Whatever it is the end result invariably sounds artificial.
So, the big hope with Perpetual Flame was that Tim Owens would sound just like he does live and Yngwie would write one of his masterpieces. Any luck? Er, not really.
To use the cliché of clichés, this is Yngwie Malmsteen by numbers. Nothing stands out, nothing is vastly different to anything else he has ever done. The soloing is of course astonishing, but what's the point if you've heard it a million times before. Where's the 'Like An Angel'? Where's the 'Queen In Love' or the 'I Am A Viking'? It hurts to say such a thing but Yngwie is much, much better than this. And so is Tim Owens.
I had huge hopes for this album. The thought of Yngwie doing a full-on metal album with one of rock's greatest live vocalists was pant-wettingly exciting. In the end all that Y-front moisture was thoroughly wasted which isn't fair.
Check out... 'Magic City'. The song features Yngwie singing and has a cool Hendrix vibe. He really should have more confidence in his own voice.
Track List:
1. Death Dealer
2. Damnation Game
3. Live To Fight (Another Day)
4. Red Devil
5. Four Horsemen (Of The Apocalypse)
6. Priest Of The Unholy
7. Be Careful What You Wish For
8. Caprici Di Diablo
9. Magic City
10. Eleventh Hour
11. Heavy Heart
Band websites: Yngwie Malmsteen , MySpace
