The progressive power metal ensemble Labyrinth are at it again following last year’s somewhat uneven "Architecture of a God" studio output, but this time around we are talking about a live offering. The CD/DVD/Blu Ray contains twelve tracks that were recorded at the Frontiers Festival back in 2016, so it does not feature any brand new tunes as such.

 

Still, the renditions of "Moonlight", "New Horizons", "Heaven Denied", "Die for Freedom", and "Falling Rain" never really lose their charm or power and they sound pretty good and muscular here. Having said that, there is not a whole lot of excitement or enthusiasm to the performance as such. Sure, it is tight and nicely executed from a purely musical point of view and the band members certainly know their way around an instrument, but there is nothing magical or special going on that makes this live offering a must-have or something momumental that you simply cannot miss out on.

 

If you a are fan of Labyrinth then obviously this is a cool addition to the catalogue, but the rest of you out there ought to check out the first three or four studio albums by these guys instead as they contain some of the band’s strongest material to date. Again, "Return to Live" sounds good but nothing more than that and one could argue that this is one of those live albums that are easily forgotten simply because the live tracks add nothing new to musical universe of Labyrinth. Like I said, stick to the first few studio albums instead and check those out if you have never immersed yourself in the band’s material before. On the other hand, if you witnessed Labyrinth’s performance at the aforementioned festival in Italy, "Return to Live" will be a cool souvenir for you.

 

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