Japanese release date confirmed!

Alright, time to share some thoughts after my first listening.

First: The intro is awesome, it's guitar based like Steve already said. I think it creates a lot of pressure with the riffing and drumming.

Rising anew and glorious are "typical" melo power metal uptempo tracks like we love them from Power Quest. Particularly Rising anew has a VERY epic and great chorus.

Some songs remind me of AOR stuff like Sacrifice or City of lies. It gives me the feeling of the 80's and I love that! The outro of City of lies is something special and everyone will notice why I said that.

Then there is this weird track Crunching the numbers. I never heard anything like that before from Power Quest. The rythmic changes are kinda interesting and it holds your attention. The chorus sounds a little bit evil if you ask me but at least the whole song is "weird". Need to listen to it more often.

Better days and Only in my dreams were the songs which surprised me most. After I've listened to the samples I didn't expect that. The eagerness is climbing up with the verses and the bridge and then there are these damn epic choruses with a "strange" choir (annotation: strange means that I never heard a choir like that but I really appreciate it!). I really can't describe it...It's a constant change between Chity's vocals and the choir and that gives these songs something special.

I also want to mention the title track. 9 minutes but no second of boredom!
It keeps the eagerness high and that's the most important thing in longtracks. The chorus is kinda inconspicuous but this fact makes it even more interesting. It's not one of these "super-mega-epic" choruses. It's more emotional and I am not talking about a slow ballad chorus. Furthermore I want to say that the solos on these track are above awesomeness but I think this counts for the WHOLE album. The guitar work is way better than in the past without insulting the old PQ members.

The japanese bonus track "time to burn" easily could have been a normal song on this album. I love the main riff and the bridge also gives me a damn good feeling and a bright smile on my face. The chorus scatters happiness.

Moreover I love the atmosphere the keyboard generates, there are some nice key solos even though it's just the main factor for the atmosphere on the whole album. GREAT work steve!

Thank you so much Steve, without you this couldn't have happened!!!

Well, it was just the first listening and it's really hard to tell everything because there are SO many details to discover. I mean it's 64 minutes of great music!

Hopefully I could help some people from the forum, I know my english isn't the best.
 
That's some great and comprehensive feedback after just 1 listen dude! thanks so much for that man! I guess it was worth the wait?

I think we may need to start a "Blood Alliance" feedback/review thread pretty soon eh?

Absolutely! It was worth waiting all these months! I think it's the most innovative Power Quest album so far. I surely will need more listens to get into it.
 
Sonata: first to have listened to Blood Alliance, and I am most jealous! Glad you enjoyed the album - can't wait to hear it myself.
 
I can definitely hear some very heavy influences from the 80s / perhaps the Classic Rock kinda bands. But when it's coupled with the PQ sound, it works incredibly well to blend into the catchy-melodic style of Power Metal that you guys play, and makes for a bit of a different sound from your earlier stuff. At the time of writing this paragraph, I'm on Track 8 on my first listen, so not quite done, but I can tell already that a lot of the choruses from this album are going to be catchy as hell, and I'm going to be singing them under my breath for quite a while.

Chity's voice is excellent, it complements the music well - when I was trying to mouth along to the tracks at first, I was expecting a much higher pitch to be sung at some points, simply because I was used to Alessio. I imagine it's something I'll get used to over a few playthroughs, but I'm already enjoying it just as much!

Crunching the Numbers, I think, is going to be a surprise favourite. The chorus is dark and good to sing along to whilst it's playing, and I enjoyed how you related the lyrics to, well, current events. Means I can relate to it quite well, and having the lyrics so "grounded in reality" (if you'll excuse the term. I can't think of how else to describe it, they describe actual events and news as opposed to concepts, etc) makes a very good change.

As soon as Blood Alliance started, it felt really upbeat. It's definitely going to be a contender for the best track on the album. I couldn't believe the time flew by so quickly whilst I was listening to that, and the lyrics are fantastic. City of Lies definitely contains the trademark PQ sound. The keys at the start & melody remind me of MND, and the speed just makes me love it. I like the curious-sounding end to City of Lies. Sounds like a great closer to the album for those without the bonus track, and just... works, and... Yeah. Time to Burn could definitely have been put on the main album.

So far, this is looking absolutely amazing. Congratulations Steve (and, of course, the rest of the band!), so far, this album is definitely living up to the mountains of hype I had for it!
Guys who haven't got this yet... you're gonna love it.
 
Awesome feedback moleSG! Sounds like it's hit the spot with you sir!

Funnily enough.....we always say when we are playing the title track that it never seems like 9 minutes long at all, which has to be a good thing!

Choosing the bonus track was a VERY tricky decision this time round and we kept chopping and changing our minds on that one! LOL!

Crunching......I think it's gonna be great to see what the various takes on this one are!
 
Cheers. :)
I've made it look a bit nicer now, previously I was just tagging on the feedback as I listened.
Yep, the title track definitely doesn't feel like 9 minutes, which is definitely a good thing. Time flies when you're having fun, right? :lol:

What I wrote seems a bit fanboyish, but it's just what I was thinking at the time. Won't have that much time now for a few hours, but I'll give it a few listens over again, stick it on my iPod, and see what else I can come up with!
 
I nearly finished my second listening. It works much better already and some songs already had grown on me, especially Crunching the numbers. I love the chorus, it somehow sounds strange and there is a little contrast between the chorus and the verses, musically of course.

The solo in the middle part of this song is just sick! I hope you don't get me wrong, I mean it positive!

I also love the emotional chorus of Only in my dreams, it's giving me goosebumps. Especially in the final chorus where Chity just hits my spot.

The first solo on City of lies is also damn nice! I really appreciate how good the guitar players did their job on this album. They have their own style but it fits in to this record and the band power quest, that counts. The ending keyboard fanfare is so beautiful! (I am not talking about the special piano ending although this is very great as well)

I really can enjoy this album very much! And I am sure it will grow like hell on me!
 
I also love the emotional chorus of Only in my dreams, it's giving me goosebumps. Especially in the final chorus where Chity just hits my spot.

I'd like to second this!
Starting the second listen, but it'll probably be interrupted by preparing dinner and heading out. But I'll definitely finish #2 (and probably 3 or 4, for that matter) when I get back later tonight.

I really like the speedy guitars (and a reference to the Quest :lol: ) in Rising Anew...