by Martin Popoff
Steel Prophet - Messiah
(Nuclear Blast)Steel Prophet are without a doubt one of America's marquee power metal bands, slotting comfortably and confidently between Helloween and the likes of Primal Fear, exuding the veteran songskills built of a dozen years of sincere and striving existence. The band is notably at the heavy, note-dense and precision-swift end of the spectrum, featuring a slicing, slashing and exacting twin lead attack and dynamic vocals from one Rick Mythiasin. Messiah is one of those day-dreamy albums that you could imagine as the saviour and triumph of Priest or Maiden, the sum brisk-rocking total of Messiah being characteristic of top-flight writing by either legendary pre-power package. But beware: there's a lot of short-shorn heads in the band, these L.A. transplants (with many Fates Warning connections) looking like Bolivian soccer players. But looks are deceiving: these guys, along with Kamelot and newcomers like Jacobs Dream are gonna bring the power metal cup home to North America with a crushing 3-nil decision.
Rating 8.5Millenium - Angelfire
(Frontiers/Majestic)This glossy post-Eyewitness debut record has been out for awhile overseas, but with power metal making the rise stateside, it was only a matter of time until we got to hang with this elegant harmonizing bunch. Millenium (their erroneous spelling, not mine) angle towards old-style hair metal, tugged back to the more modern ãmelodicä metal tag by those searing, syrupy and musical leads which recall Scorpions in the '80s, Alcatrazz, or contemporarily speaking, D.C. Cooper, Royal Hunt or tourmates Ten. Very European, very dramatic and self-aggrandizing, these guys should be a big hit in Japan, although it all gets a little gay for me by the time ballad 'Julia' hits, especially with that cheesy modulation.
Rating 6.5
