Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2024 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
November 2023
- High Spirits: Safe On The Other Side
- Signum Regis: Undivided
- DGM: Life
- Soledriver: Return Me To Light
- Care Of Night: Reconnected
- Secret Sphere: Blackened Heartbeat
- Seventh Crystal: Infinity EP
- Angra: Cycles Of Pain
- Hugo's Voyage: Inception
- DMJ: Sophomore
- Temple Balls: Avalanche
- Ignescent: Fight In Me
October 2023
- Pattern-Seeking Animals: Spooky Action At A Distance
- Overland: S.I.X
- Vitalines: Wheels Within Wheels
- Lynch Mob: Babylon
- District 97: Stay For The Ending
- Lalu: The Fish Who Wanted To Be King
- Entierro: The Gates Of Hell
- Nitrate: Feel The Heat
- Kings Crown: Closer To The Truth
- Theocracy: Mosaic
- Edge Of Forever: Ritual
- Ronnie Atkins: Trinity
September 2023
- Rockett Love: Galactic Circus
- Kerrigan: Bloodmoon
- Taz: Shipwrecked, Vol 2
- Taz: Wake Up & Sweat, Vol 1
- Ronnie Romero: Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters
- The Flower Kings: Look At You Now
- Vega: Battlelines
- Blackbird Angels: Solsorte
- Primal Fear: Code Red
- Eclipse: Megalomanium
- Seventh Wonder: Mercy Falls (Reissue 2008/2023)
- Seventh Wonder: The Great Escape (Reissue 2010/2023)
August 2023
- Hurricane: Reconnected
- U.D.O.: Touchdown
- Streetlight: Ignition
- Sarayasign: The Lion's Road
- Neal Morse: The Dreamer - Joseph - Part One
- Rian: Wings
- Icon Of Sin: Legends
- Lancer: Tempest
- King Kobra: We Are Warriors
- Dark Sky: Signs Of The Time
- Hell In The Club: F.U.B.A.R.
- Kent Hilli: Nothing Left To Lose
Crystal Ball: Dawnbreaker
Crystal Ball: Dawnbreaker
Melodic Hard Rock/Metal
4.0/5.0
Website
Facebook
YouTube
Massacre Records
by Craig Hartranft, 11.21.2013
Apparently, sometime between Crystal Ball's previous album, Secrets (2007) and the new Dawnbreaker, the band dissolved for several years. Now original members Scott Leach (g) and Marcel Sardella (d) have regrouped with a new line up including a new singer, Steven Mageney.
Crystal Ball:: back in black.
What hasn't changed is Crystal Ball's sound, which is basically a hybrid of melodic hard rock and heavy metal. As I recall, I remember the previous album with some ambivalence, thinking it would grow on me eventually over time. This may be the case once more. If anything, there's some variety on this album.
For instance, there's the song Power Pack which sounds like it's going to be blues tune, but turns into melodic metal with a strong rock groove. And getting that rock groove, whether in a straight hard rock song like Anyone Can Be Hero, or a metal song like Walls Fall Down or Back For Good, has always been one of Crystal Ball's great strengths.
Crystal Ball throws in two ballads with Eternal Flame and Stranded. The former takes lighter with some acoustic guitar leading, the latter feels more dense, even heavier, with it's thick riffage and steady drums. As for Mageney's voice, he has that melodic raspy style common in European rock
In the end, it's good to have Crystal Ball back. They've lost nothing in their brief absence and return with solid and entertaining album of melodic hard rock. Recommended.
Crystal Ball - Anyone Can Be A Hero (Official)
Tweet
In Short
Crystal Ball has lost nothing in their brief absence and return with solid and entertaining album of melodic hard rock and metal.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
Album of the Week
We haven't had a new studio album from Brazil's Angra since prior to the COVID pandemic, 2018's Omni. But the quintet has been busy. In 2021, they released Omni Live in Japan where they have a huge fan base ... [ Read More ]