POWER QUEST – Blood Alliance
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 11-04-2011
Five appears to be a relevant number in this UK power metal band’s radar. “Blood Alliance” is their fifth album. Sole original member, keyboardist Steve Williams, finds himself with five new members in the interim between albums. Yet after five plays I couldn’t find much to rave about the latest Power Quest offering.
When they accelerate the tempos and riff at warp speed, songs like “Rising Anew” and “Survive” aren’t far away from the Dragonforce school of ethics – pumping out happy melodies and more beats per minutes than your heart can normally handle. When they do slow down for palatable fare such as “Better Days” (with Steve’s 80’s like chord progressions and Chity’s lower register melodies), it’s where I think Power Quest manage to keep their sound fresh and worth returning to. Trust me – when you’ve heard one Power Quest album, you have pretty much heard all of them. Perhaps I will return to this in five years.