Crystal Eyes - Chained

Published November 17 2008

*=Staff's pick	Ride The Rainbow* The Fire Of Hades* The Devil Inside Waves Of War* Dying In The Rain Fighting Shadow Rider Lonely Ball Of Fate Guardian

Genre	Heavy/Power Metal	Nico Adamsen	Vocals
Tracks	9	Mikael Dahl	Guitar
Runningtime	42 Min.	Paul Pettersson	Guitar
Label	Metal Heaven	Claes Wikander	Bass
Release	21 November 2008	Stefan Svantesson	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Hammerfall, Iron Maiden, Accept, Steel Attack

The Swedish outfit Crystal Eyes continues their quest of paying homage to the Heavy Metal legacy set in the eighties by bands like Iron Maiden, Accept, Judas Priest etc. Ever since the formation in 1992 they have stayed true to their roots and big changes have been reduced to developments regarding production and performance. Chained is Crystal Eyes sixth album and after a couple of years with changes on the vocal spot the band is now intact with the same line-up as on its predecessor Dead City Dreaming.

Those of you who seek originality in music won't find anything of interest here since Chained is a long ride with hints and references to the legends of Heavy Metal. I don't look upon this as a big problem though since it's done with such love and passion. Waves Of War (Running Wild) and Guardian (Blind Guardian) balance on a narrow thread of being pure rip-offs but apart from them it's more of a melting pot of twin guitars á la Maiden, Accept and Sabbath riffs, Hammerfall melodies etc.

The highlights of Chained can be found on the first half of the album. Ride The Rainbow with pumping bass drums and a memorable chorus works as a salvation for those who dig what genre colleagues like Hammerfall, Primal Fear and Steel Attack are doing today. The Fire Of Hades is a great composition in midtempo that resembles the feeling of Black Sabbath's Headless Cross. Waves Of War with its effective and catchy chorus is Running Wild all over, even so regarding the lyrics where Jolly Roger is mentioned. Nevertheless a highly enjoyable track that stays in your head afterwards.

This isn't a groundbreaking release that will change your perception of things but still a solid album from beginning to the end without any flaws whatsoever. On top of that we have a great production done by Fredrik Nordström in Studio Fredman with a fat and crystal clear sound. All fans of heavy/power Metal inspired by the dinosaurs from the eighties should find this album most appealing.

See also review of: Dead City Dreaming , Confessions Of The Maker

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	3	8	6	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Hawk