Cage - Science Of Annihilation

Published June 06 2009

*=Staff's pick	The Power That Feeds Planet Crusher* Scarlet Witch Spirit Of Vengeance* Black River Falls Operation Overlord Power Of A God Speed Kills* Stranger In Black* Die Glocke Spectre Of War Science Of Annihilation At The Edge Of The Infinite

Genre	Heavy Metal	Sean Peck	Vocals
Tracks	13	Dave Garcia	Guitar
Runningtime	56 Min.	Anthony Wayne McGinnis	Guitar
Label	MusicBuyMail	Mike Giordano	Bass
Release	22 May 2009	Norm Leggio	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Judas Priest, Primal Fear

Science Of Annihilation is the fifth album from the american band Cage since they started back in 1992. What's new in the camp for this release is that they have lost their drummer Mike Nielsen and replaced him with the highly competent Norm Leggio (Psychotic Waltz). I have personally anticipated this album for quite some time since their earlier albums, especially Darker Than Black (2003) and Hell Destroyer (2007), have been extremely good.

Their trademark on the earlier albums has been an excellent flow in the songs with very catchy refrains, simple riffs and appealing solos. The tempo has not been especially high, instead it has felt like they have emphasized the mentioned riffs, refrains and solos. Another thing that should be mentioned is the variation in the songs, as they mix fast parts with very laid back ones and they do it in a very delicious way. And this is of course what I hoped to hear also on this album...

So what do we get on Science Of Annihilation? I was initially surprised to hear that they have taken the tempo up, not only one tiny notch, but quite a bit. The new drummer Norm Leggio does an excellent job keeping it up and keeping it tight, and he secures a great and massive flow troughout the album without taking over the show in any way. This is accompanied by the great guitars of Dave Garcia and Anthony Wayne McGinnis, as well as the bass guitar of Mike Giordano, and here we once again have the recipe for some solid heavy metal, brilliant in its classic simplicity.

And as icing on the cake, singer Sean Peck puts his personal touch to the songs with his characteristic voice. In my opinion he shows a great pondus in the songs, especially when taking the high notes which he does really, really well. The band has managed to maintain its melodic touch which I am happy to hear, and most importantly they have kept the flow from the previous albums.

Even though Cage have increased the pace on this album, they continue with their typical great variation of calm segments and thunderous passages. This heavy metal ensemble has with Science Of Annihilation delivered an album that is harder than before, but with the same crucial ingredients as we are used to, only with a pinch of extra spice on the pace, power and heaviness. A very good combination which most likely should appeal to the already initiated Cage fan.

Seen over the whole album there is not one song that falls out of frame. The band keep a steady course on their beaten path and deliver a solid dose of heavy metal containing great riffs, meaningful shifts in tempo and really good leads and solos.

Will Cage continue on this speedy quest through the metal realm? That remains to be seen and heard, but I can only hope that they will continue to deliver this kind of quality metal. In such case they will keep at least one solid fan in me. I will be waiting as eagerly for their next release as I did for this.

See also review of: Ancient Evil , Darker Than Black

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	6	7	8	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Tribe