ION VEIN - REIGNING MEMORIES (2003, MAJESPHERE RECORDS)
Russ Klimczak - vocals
Chris Lotesto - guitars, keyboards
John Malufka - guitars
Scott Lang - drum ensemble, percussion

Additional Musicians:
Brian Gordon - bass
Christopher Neal - saxophone
Andrew Bunk - backing vocals, keyboards on 'Faith and Majesty'

Background
Just like New Zealand's own city Wellington, Chicago in the US has a big reputation for pretty powerful winds. Well, that's not the only powerful thing coming out of Chicago. It appears that this city has some very strong power/prog metal bands, one of which is Ion Vein. These guys must be doing something right as they managed to lure the legendary Neil Kernon in to produce them, and great job he did too, capturing Ion Vein's natural power.

The Songs
Ion Vein bring together a very good balance of Iron Maiden, 'Perfect Symmetry/Parallels' era Fates Warning, and Queensryche. The band hit the heaviness button from track 2, the first track being an intro. 'Another Life' strides along with huge riffing and very nice dual lead work. The Fates Warning comparisons are easily made on the melodic 'The Power Of You'. The huge chorus of 'Faith And Majesty' opens up the track, which is the most straight ahead metal song on the album. There is a mixture of Queensryche/Dream Theater unplugged on the acoustic 'Twilight Garden', while the title track hits prog metal overload with odd time signatures, vocal acrobatics and scintillating axe work. There's even more axe-overdose on the final track 'The Future Is Now'. Plenty of Fates Warning melodic riffing and abundant lead work. Very nice indeed.

In Summary
Apparently these guys are still shopping for a record deal, having to release this independently. WTF???? Come on, Neil Kernon produced the bloody thing, doesn't that tell labels something? Noise, LIMB, Inside Out and the like should be breaking down Ion Veins doors. At least now the album is available through online vendors and not just the bands website. Trust me, if you're looking for a fix of great prog/power metal, it is time to tap into the Ion Vein.

Track Listing:
01 Awakening
02 Another Life
03 Spiral Maze
04 The Power Of You
05 Faith And Majesty
06 Edge Of Forever
07 Twilight Garden
08 Reigning Memories

Adrians Ladder (trilogy)

09 Part I. From Inside The Mirror
10 Part II. Timeless
11 Part III. Everytime It Rains
12 The Future Is Now

Related Articles:
N/A

All written content on this website is copyrighted.
Copying of material without permission is not permitted.