Well, it seems as though my predictions about this band have come true. I stated in the review of their previous album Wings Of Forever, that Power Quest was the sort of band that although are part of an over saturated genre of speedy melodic power metal, their music, vocals and musical talent show the sort of promise that truly great bands are made of. The only thing that the band really needed improvement with was in the songwriting department. The band certainly has sharpened their songwriting skills with this new album, Neverworld, due out early next year on their new label Now And Then Records. I recently got a hold of the newly released Japanese version to review.

From the very first track, Neverworld (Power Quest Part II), I knew I was in for a real treat. With it's neo-classical intro and Sonata Arctica speediness, the song has all the elements of a great melodic power metal song; excellent riffing, a great soaring chorus and a few progressive elements thrown in for good measure. The rest of the album flows solidly from track to track delivering some of the best melodic power metal that I've heard since the classic Helloween days and more recently with Sonata Arctica's Ecliptica album a few years back. Yes my friends, this album is really that good. The soaring style of this band with the riffs, sprinkles of keyboards and melodies that rival even the masters of this genre, Power Quest has certainly made their mark on the metal scene with this album. The speediness, melody and vocals bring the listener back to the Michael Kiske era of Helloween and the big epic choruses and trumpeting keyboard sounds remind me a lot of the Freedom Call sound, especially on their Eternity album from last year. A couple of tracks are more mid-tempo and have an AOR melodic metal sound and they really come at the right time. An entire album of speedy, happy songs can get a bit monotonous at times even for the biggest fans of this genre. When I'm Gone is a wonderful and heart-wrenching power ballad and Edge Of Time with it's Van Halen Jump style keyboard intro develops into a killer mid-tempo melodic metal song.

The progressive side of this band makes appearances throughout this album but really stands out with the final track Lost Without You. With an opening clean guitar riff that sounds very familiar to Mylo(Perimeter Walk) from Marillion's Misplaced Childhood album, the song moves to heavier passages with a Scorpions style chorus and Sabine Edelsbacher (Edenbridge) makes an appearance to duet with lead vocalist Alessio Garavello. This 10 minute plus opus has everything from driving and heavy passages to speedy sections with Helloween muted style lead guitar. The Japanese version has 2 bonus tracks, Find The Way To The Top and Sabine Edelsbacher makes another appearance singing solo on her version of the song When I'm Gone.

The last time a speedy melodic power metal album affected me like this was Freedom Call's Eternity album and before that, Sonata Arctica's Ecliptica and Stratovarius' Visions album. Every track on this new album is solid start to finish and all have the type of catchy, memorable choruses that get stuck in your head for days on end. Power Quest may not be the most original band in the genre but they have improved immensely from their last album and have mastered their craft. Fans of classic speedy melodic power metal along the likes of Helloween, Sonata Arctica and Freedom Call should not hesitate in picking this one up. It comes highly recommended and may even be in my top 5 of the year so far. Amazing job guys!!!!