Labels: Rise Above
Review by: Alex Deller
Hm. Fair few folks seem to be going hog wild for this lot, but on the evidence I can’t much see why. On paper they tick all the right boxes – Mercyful Fate given a doom twist, dashed through with some proggy widdle and a sense of arena rock catchiness – but the reality is far more humdrum. Y’see, while all those aforementioned sounds and styles each have something going for them, ‘Opus Eponymous’ somehow manages to drop the ball and ensure that none of the goodness leaches through. There’s no grist or surge to the NWOBHM licks; no heft to the trad doom moments and the songwriting stops so short of catchy that you’re left with nary a whiff of verse or chorus to rattle around your brain once the needle lifts. Things are, in a word, wimpy, and with both strength and drive having been sacrificed in the name of failed pop sensibilities there’s nothing much left beyond dreary showboating and the nagging feeling that an opportunity has been sorely missed.