The Danish theatrical masters Evil Masquerade are back with more of their twisted and theatrical brand of classic heavy metal. It's great to see bands like this that ignore current trends in favor of celebrating the late 70's to early 80's with their musical influences. Some power metal influences can be heard in their music but it's just the speedy aspect of some of their songs that gives them that "flavor". However, they are no more of a power metal band than the late 70's Rainbow era with Dio, a band that they bear a huge resemblance to. Their debut album Welcome To The Show was a nice surprise with all the theatrics and neo-classical influenced heavy metal but last years Theatrical Madness saw more of a straight ahead classic heavy metal approach. With their latest Third Act, the band revisits the neo-classical sound of their first album in all it's glory to produce one of the finest examples of "new" heavy metal that proudly wears the influences of bands like Rainbow, Deep Purple, Yngwie Malmsteen and Black Sabbath proudly on their sleeves and have also likely worn out a few copies of Alan Parson's Tales Of Mystery And Imagination over the years.

Guitarist and Evil Masquerade mastermind Henrik Flyman (Wuthering Heights) put together quite the band for the first two albums that included former Royal Hunt vocalist Hendrick Brockmann. Hendrick has embarked on a solo career with the vacant vocal slot now filled by Apollo Papathanasio (Time Requiem, Firewind) who was recommended by keyboardist Richard Andersson (Time Requiem, Space Odyssey) who also contributes to this project as guest keyboardist for their studio albums. Also helping out on keyboards is David Rosenthal (Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen). Henrik Flyman gets recording help by Steen Mogensen (Royal Hunt, Cornerstone) and once again mixing and mastering is by veteran Tommy Hansen (Pretty Maids, Helloween, TNT).

One thing about his new album that struck me right away was just how much Apollo's vocals remind me of Ronnie James Dio. That aspect combined with the neo-classical edge of albums like Rainbow's Rising and Long Live Rock N' Roll takes the listener on a nostalgic trip back to the era that spawned this "new" approach to hard rock and heavy metal. The neo-classical speediness can be found with tracks like the title track Third Act as well as The Dark Minstrel Plays that are both laden with traditional classical themes performed with perfect guitar/keyboard syncopation. Some Brian May influences (Queen) creep in now and again with the multi-layered guitar orchestration effects. Lots of blazing synthesizer leads beef up a few tracks and the Rainbow influences ring tried and true with tracks like Black Raven's Cry and Descended From The Grave. Besides a plodding and heavy orchestrated sound, Black Raven's Cry has the sort of theatrical edge and amazing chorus that results in arguably the best Evil Masquerade track yet. With a stolen Tony Iommi riff, (it may not be but sure sounds like one of his!), Evil Masquerade pays homage to the Dio / Tony Martin era of Black Sabbath with I'll Make You Burn, a killer track that is built around a huge chugging riff and stunning Dio-like vocals. Apollo delivers a Joe Lynn Turner flavored vocal for the track Under The Surface Of The Water; another riff laden track that also has Sabbath influences and some celtic overtones with the melodies.

The only thing really wrong with this album is that it cruises along great until the last two tracks. Bring On The World is a mid tempo heavy track with a rich chorus but it's nowhere near the quality of the earlier songs on the album. The album ends with The Final Goodbye, a huge 5 minute power ballad that has the sort of Rhapsody (of Fire) huge epic chorus. These two tracks are decent but definitely stray from the power and punch of the very riff laden and guitar oriented style of the rest of the album. In comparison to their previous albums, the riffs are much stronger and more prominent and even though former vocalist Hendrick Brockmann was a strong aspect of the band's sound, I think they sound even better with Apollo Papathanasio. Third Act definitely has the potential to be their best work yet but it misses the mark in a couple of spots and certainly doesn't ride the wave of energy right to the finish line. Otherwise, if you're like me and love the Dio era Rainbow style of neo-classical heavy metal and enjoy newer bands like Astral Doors with their brand of classic metal, but with stronger theatrical qualities, you'll definitely enjoy this band.