Onward
"Reawaken"
(Century Media) 

This is Onward's second assault on the metal world (they debuted last year with "Evermoving"), and they seem to have picked up from where they left off, playing their brand of traditional, classic-style heavy metal, with a touch of progressive here and there. Think of all the great heavy metal bands of the 1980's, and you'll probably hear influences from most of them in Onward. These guys do a great job on "Reawaken!" They are a very talented group. Guitarist Toby Knapp has been receiving a lot of critical praise for his work, and after listening to it, it's not hard to see why. His playing is right on target, very skillful and technically proficient. He seems very influenced by Yngwie Malmsteen, as well as many other metal guitar greats. Singer Michael Grant has a very strong, deep, operatic voice. He reminded me of Omen's J.D. Kimball and of ex-Yngwie vocalists Jeff Scott Soto and Mark Boals. Bassist Chris Payette and and drummer John Pereau make up a tight, solid musical foundation, pounding like a battering ram! The whole album fires on all cylinders, all the songs, like the title track, "Night", "Where Evil Follows", "Eye Of The Nightmare", "My Darkest Room", "In Due Time", and "Part 2: Reawakening", galloping along at full speed, like Genghis Khan's army charging into battle! They even throw in a killer cover of the Loudness classic, "Clockwork Toy". There are also three songs that venture into more progressive territory, those being "Seven Tides Of Labyrinthine", "Who Saw The Last Star Fall", and "Next Triumph", a ballad that reminded me, a little bit, of Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan". This is the only song that that eases off the gas pedal, though. The whole album is a full force metal assault, straight-up, classic style heavy metal the way it was meant to be played. Onward is one of the bands that has been bringing this style of music into the new millennium, and is doing a damn good job of it! Onward, metal soldiers!

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