The credentials of this one are enough to make any lover of Power Metal drool. The album was produced in the Tommy Hansen studio, a known haven of melody, and the lead singer of this Australian band is Mike diMeo, formerly of Masterplan. Indeed, if you didn’t know and weren’t listening closely you could be forgiven for thinking that the album isn’t by Masterplan, such is the similarity in style.
The first track “Mothcaste” is jolly, insistent and infectious as good Power Metal should be. The riff is jolly and just goes through my head. “Hibernal Thaw” is equally non-threatening, apart from a brief moment of dark progginess in the middle, and the track develops more subtly but it’s hard to get away from that Masterplan image. “Tar Pit” takes us back into foot tapping mode. The album is starting to develop a rock feel to go with the Power Metal rhythm, speed and flamboyant guitar work. “Omnipaedia” is similarly tight and fluid. The nice thing about this album is that each song is individual and whilst it’s undoubtedly Power Metal, it’s not the blind pursuance of a formula. It’s all classic in style but it’s not as clinical as Power Metal can be. Each track has a direction. It’s catchy and boy, these people can play. “Xerophyte”, although played at a breakneck speed, has a hint of darkness by virtue of its opening and the evocative nature of the vocals. There’s a drama about it, as if the music and lyrics are uniting to create a story. “Nubia Awakes” has an exotic riff to add to the usual Power Metal setting. Maybe you can have too much of a good thing because I started to lose some of my enthusiasm at about this point. Yet although it was not really to my taste, the anarchic and complex structure which arose from the standard Power Metal on the title track “Ageless Decay” was interesting. “Eocene Glory” is more reflective without being a ballad. After light beginnings, the album becomes a vehicle for some seriously thought-out anthems. The originality of the band only really struck me when I heard “Fragmented Glory”, which for the first time on this album featured the clichéd lyrics I would associate with and expect of this genre. Warriors wielded swords and fought for freedom. Listening to the final three tracks of this 68 minute Powerfest, I couldn’t help but feel that we’d had the climax some time earlier, much as they all added interpretations to the standard fare.
I can’t help coming back to the comparison with Masterplan and Helloween because that’s what it sounds like at first. As the album progresses, the classic metal influence of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Whitesnake is more apparent. It’s clear therefore who this album will appeal to. On a personal level, I preferred the first half of the album to the second as my senses became numb and after some great tracks the album descended into a bit of a blur. I do appreciate though that “Ageless Decay” is quality rock/metal, highly professional in its production and the work of a band with ideas, and I am sure that many others out there will appreciate it too.
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