Having opened eyes and ears across the country with their debut
"Wings of Forever", UK Power metal act Power Quest have grabbed the genre by
the throat and are now worrying it furiously. Anyone thinking that the debut
was a one off had better be prepared to eat a large dose of humble pie, as
"Neverworld" easily equals it, and does it with a style few can have imagined.
Apart from benefiting from a bigger production budget, having switched from the
Underground symphony label, keyboard player/founder/main songwriter Steve
Williams has reached into a previously unseen bad of tricks and injected a
healthy dose of progressive influences into the mix to produce a much more
diverse album. Yes, they still rip it up with pure speed in places, yes
they've still got enough hooks to hang a cupboard full of coats, but now if
you sit back and close your eyes you can imagine some of the great prog rock
acts in the studio with them, nodding in approval. Genesis, Yes and Marillion
are among the acts whose influence suffuses a number of songs.
Williams made the decision to share the melodies between the keyboards and
guitar in the vein of Nightwish even before two of the bands three guitarists
opted to pursue other paths. But the heady combination of his own playing
plus the superb axe work of Andrea Martongelli leads to some inspired moments,
particularly on the anthemic "Edge of time", the beautiful "Lost without you"
and the ass-kicking "For Evermore" which joins Domine's "The sun of the new
Season" in my top 10 songs of the year.
Inspiring, and sure to be only the first of a succession of superb albums
from a true British metal success story.
9/10 Malcolm Coull
"Wings of Forever", UK Power metal act Power Quest have grabbed the genre by
the throat and are now worrying it furiously. Anyone thinking that the debut
was a one off had better be prepared to eat a large dose of humble pie, as
"Neverworld" easily equals it, and does it with a style few can have imagined.
Apart from benefiting from a bigger production budget, having switched from the
Underground symphony label, keyboard player/founder/main songwriter Steve
Williams has reached into a previously unseen bad of tricks and injected a
healthy dose of progressive influences into the mix to produce a much more
diverse album. Yes, they still rip it up with pure speed in places, yes
they've still got enough hooks to hang a cupboard full of coats, but now if
you sit back and close your eyes you can imagine some of the great prog rock
acts in the studio with them, nodding in approval. Genesis, Yes and Marillion
are among the acts whose influence suffuses a number of songs.
Williams made the decision to share the melodies between the keyboards and
guitar in the vein of Nightwish even before two of the bands three guitarists
opted to pursue other paths. But the heady combination of his own playing
plus the superb axe work of Andrea Martongelli leads to some inspired moments,
particularly on the anthemic "Edge of time", the beautiful "Lost without you"
and the ass-kicking "For Evermore" which joins Domine's "The sun of the new
Season" in my top 10 songs of the year.
Inspiring, and sure to be only the first of a succession of superb albums
from a true British metal success story.
9/10 Malcolm Coull
