Casually, bassist 'Mike Lepond' is already on his third solo album with 'Whore of Babylon', especially as he is on all fronts, first of all being the bassist official of 'Symphony X' since 2000 but also with his other project 'DeadRisen' and if you search for 'Mike Lepond' on myprogmusic, you will see the projects in which he has participated for 3 years (and this is obviously not exhaustive).
Certainly, with this new album, it will not revolutionize the metal but it is precisely what makes the strength of this opus, the fact of concentrating on 10 titles of multiple influences which give the impression of listening a best of metal from the 80s/90s because for the fan of this time (of which I am part), 'Whore of Babylon' is a real feast. So we navigate between power metal with a powerful 'Ides of March' or with a huge 'Tell Tale Heart', speed metal with 'Dracul Son' or with the stunning 'Ironborn' or even melodic metal with folk accents with 'Night of The Long Knives' or with the catchy 'Avalon'. And how to miss 'Power Steel' which would blow up a whole stadium (by the way, hats off to the ensemble performance of Alan 'Tecchio' who knows how to adapt his voice to all styles) and to the opposite of the 'Champion' power ballad break, certainly agreed upon but so effective with this irresistible desire to swing to the rhythm of the chant (also beautiful vocal performance of 'Sarah Teets'), without forgetting the mid-tempo 'Whore of Babylon' which deploys its slow melody in a majestic way.
In summary, as you will understand, this latest baby of 'Mike Lepond' is a real success which should delight all amateurs of metal of the 80s/90s by offering them a concentrate of the best of this time with modern sound and arrangements... | |
