After a very successful debut album, the Russel Allen and Jorn Lande duo return to the arena for our greatest pleasure, with the revenge of the first round (The Revenge) and the satisfaction that The Battle was not a unique side-project. You don't change a winning team, so the composer and progenitor of this album, Magnus Karlsson (Last Tribe, Starbreaker) always takes care of the guitars, keyboard and bass. Jaime Salazar ( The Flower Kings) is also on drums with a less stereotypical "melodic metal" playing than on the previous opus. And for those who have not been on Earth for the past ten years, Russel Allen is the voice of the progressive metal band Symphony X and Jorn Lande has been involved in several major projects (Ark, Masterplan, Beyond Twilight...). You will not be surprised to learn that these two guys are considered (rightly) as the two most talented singers of the current metal.
Those who heard the first shock will not be disappointed, even if this new album is slightly different from the first. As with The Battle, the vocals on the twelve tracks are shared between our two singers, three for each of them and six songs in duet. The tracks are well polished, dynamic ("Will You Follow"), melodic and extremely well sung and The Revenge contains its share of classics. Karlsson is still as good on the solo side (" Obsessed ", " Just a Dream " or " Who can You Trust ") - even if the man stays mainly in the minor harmonic and melodic scales very dear to Mr. Yngwie M. - and the riffs are always melodic metal type. The choruses are very melodic and come to the top at the speed of sound ( "Obsessed", "Will You Follow"). Russel and Jorn, alone or in duo, sing like madmen and give us a real singing lesson ( "Master of Sorrow", "Just a Dream"). By the way, the duets are still as well balanced as ever and it is a real pleasure to hear these two voices on the same track. The very poignant closing ballad, "When time Doesn't Heal", probably the most successful of the two albums, leaves a large part to the masterful interpretation of Jorn and Russell.
In the opinion of some, this new album is, and I quote: "the album of maturity". There is some truth in that remark. The Revenge seems more compact and coherent than The Battle even if the work is a little more difficult to tame, an impression reinforced perhaps by Dennis Ward's more instinctive mixing. Although all the pieces are constructed in the same way, the magic works. But we can regret the lack of risk that Magnus could have taken in the compositions, our desire to hear Russell Allen, but especially Jorn Lande, on more progressive compositions...
Anyway, we have here a great melodic metal record and probably a serious contender for the title of the melodic metal album of the year. All that remains is to wait for the third part....