Labyrinth - Labyrinth
Century Media
Melodic Power / Speed Metal
10 songs (52'03)
Release year: 2003
Labyrinth, Century Media
Reviewed by Marty
Major event
With the line-up changes that have occurred with Labyrinth, many were left wondering what the future held in store. The departure of guitarist Olaf Thorsen (Vision Divine) seemed to be the one thing that many people felt was a major blow to the band's future. The only remaining members left from the classic line-up that recorded Return To Heaven Denied and Sons Of Thunder are vocalist Roberto Tyranti (aka Rob Tyrant) and drummer Mattia Stancioiu (also with Vision Divine). Rounding out the line-up for version II of Labyrinth are; Andrea Cantarelli, guitar (helped in some of the writing for Return To Heaven Denied), Cristiano Bertocchi, bass and Andrea De Paoli, keyboards and programming. After the release of Sons Of Thunder in 2000, the band did a South American tour and was awarded the opening slot for Helloween on their tour for The Dark Ride album. I think the cracks started to appear for the old line-up during the recording of Sons Of Thunder. The album was re-mixed several times and a few tracks rewritten and reworked. The end result, as I'm sure most Labyrinth fans would agree, was somewhat of a lack-luster album and an overall disappointing effort. This new album, simply titled Labyrinth, is the band's fourth album to date and the first one for the Century Media label. The cover art is from Travis Smith, known for his work with album graphics for such bands as Nevermore, Jag Panzer and Opeth.

From the opening riffs and the speedy guitar and keyboard arpeggios, echoes of Return To Heaven Denied abound. The speediness is back, the guitar riffs more aggressive and up front in the mix and the double bass drums just pound away. The first track to catch my ear was Livin' In A Maze. It's got a great driving beat and some great layered vocals and a solid chorus. The song also features some almost thrash metal style interludes and is broken up by some quiet piano and acoustic guitar passages. This World is a more mid tempo song with some fast and heavier sections and again features some quieter acoustic guitar and synthesizer to mix things up. A great driving track with some great lead guitar. Just Soldier (Stay Down) is an excellent and very fast song that is I'm sure going to please long-time Labyrinth fans. Again, faster and more thrashier guitar sounds are mixed in with some layered Uriah Heep style vocals. This song features some f***ing monster guitar riffs and after an acoustic guitar interlude with piano, breaks into a great instrumental bridge section. Terzinato another album highlight, features the trademark break-neck speed Labyrinth that we know and love and also contains some excellent and very technical lead guitar fills. Slave To The Night with it's muted dual guitar arpeggios, it's a more catchier Return To Heaven Denied style track. Great melodic leads, a driving beat and a typical (but good) chorus round out another solid track. One of the more interesting and different tracks is the last one, When I Will Fly?. It starts quiet with just synthesizer, piano and voice but slowly builds into a great almost Yes or Marillion like track with some older style Moog synthesizer fills and richly layered keyboards and harmony guitar. It's a bit out of character, but I love the arrangement and atmosphere to this song.

The rest of the tracks are all very typical Labyrinth compositions and as I mentioned earlier, many feature a more aggressive guitar sound than on previous albums. The band has put a lot of emphasis on the elaborate arrangements to these songs as many feature sudden quieter changes then back to the speed and heaviness again. This really adds an element of drama that's really missing with most bands playing this style of metal. This album is much more technical than anything they've ever done in the past as well as being more aggressive and progressive at the same time. I'm not too impressed with the production and sound of this album though. The vocals need to be brought up a bit and are very "dry" sounding (i.e. no reverb or delay effects) which would expand and enrich their sound. Rob Tyrant strains a bit on a few tracks and with any Labyrinth album, pretty much sings the same way all the way through. The guitars seem to have a fuzziness to them and the bass is buried in the mix with very little distinction from the rest of the sound. If this was 1998 again (the year of Return To Heaven Denied) I could be more forgiving about the production. Overall, this album really has to be listened to more than a couple of times. Upon first listens, it would be easy to dismiss this as just another power/speed metal release. With subsequent listens, the complexities and the catchiness of the riffing and the vocals starts to emerge. These guys are one of the bands that helped pioneer this type of metal in the mid 1990's and it's great to see them back. Despite having some limitations, it is a welcome return by a great band. It also signifies a pretty good start to chapter 2 of the legacy of Labyrinth and (I hope) the promise of many good thing to come.

Killing Songs :
Livin' In A Maze, This World, Just Soldier (Stay Down), Terzinato, Slave To The Night and When I Will Fly?
Marty quoted 78 / 100
Other albums by Labyrinth that we have reviewed:
Labyrinth - Welcome To The Absurd Circus reviewed by Ben and quoted 84 / 100
Labyrinth - Return To Heaven Denied Part II reviewed by Ben and quoted 82 / 100
Labyrinth - Architecture Of A God reviewed by Ben and quoted 85 / 100
Labyrinth - 6 Days To Nowhere reviewed by Ben and quoted 57 / 100
Labyrinth - Freeman reviewed by Ben and quoted 90 / 100
To see all 9 reviews click here
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