martindavey87 Dominici is back to finish what would be a daunting undertaking for the most accomplished of bands, with this, the third and final part of his 'O3' trilogy. And I sure hope you enjoyed the previous installment if you're listening to this, because this takes everything that was great with its predecessor and jacks it up with enough steroids to get a lifetime ban from playing sports! (Huh?)

Picking up where 'Part 2' left off, 'O3: A Trilogy Part 3' is practically identical in every way. The production sounds the same, the music sounds the same (although it's certainly a lot heavier and more intense this time around), the vocals and lyrical content for the most part is all the same, this really is just a continuation of the trilogy.

And it's a damn good one, at that.

Bringing a close to Dominici's trilogy, the storyline itself is somewhat over-the-top and almost convoluted. It makes sense, but it certainly takes a lot of twists and turns that steer it completely off-path from where the story started. Not that that's really a criticism or anything, as the music itself is still fantastic and will definitely please fans of the genre. A true highlight of this album is the guitar work of Brian Maillard (who?). This guy has some incredible chops and holds the distinction of playing some of the heaviest riffs known to man. 'King of Terror', 'Liquid Lightning', 'Hell on Earth' and 'Revelation' are relentlessly heavy assaults on the listeners senses, and a sure treat for fans of heavy music, progressive or not.

With songwriting and musicianship that seems a lot more polished, tighter and consistent than before, this is, in my opinion, the best chapter of the trilogy, and brings to a close a fine collection of albums that belongs in every progressive metal fans collection.

Pelata Original Dream Theater vocalist Charlie Dominici returns with the third installment of his epic, conceptual trilogy. I must confess to ignoring the first two chapters strictly based on Charlie Dominici’s presence. I never liked his vocal style in Dream Theater, so I surmised that I would not like it in his own band either. I am happy to announce, in this case, that I was wrong.

Dominici (the band) are a well-lubricated Prog-Metal machine, vocals included.Much of what is present here is your standard Prog-Metal fare. There are loads of shredding solos, from both guitars and keyboards. The music is a strong mix of metallic riffage and syncopated, choppy rhythms. They never get so chop-happy that they lose the groove, either. The melodies, both musically and vocally, are strong and memorable. We even have a post-apocalyptic, quasi-spiritual storyline. What makes this album enjoyable, aside from the standard elements, is that while they’re treading well known ground, they’re doing it with energy and conviction. This is a band that truly means it. The production is crystal clear, the tones are rich and the energy level is high. I dare any Prog-Metal fan to not be sucked in by the mood and sincerity of these performances.

Songs like “March Into Hell”, “Revelation” & “Liquid Lightning” are simply massive in both intensity and catchiness. The albums’ power ballad “So Help Me God” is strong and moving. The albums two 10-minute epics, “Enemies Of God” and closing cut “Genesis”, entertain, energize and never once get close to boring. There, I’ve said enough. Fans of Dream Theater, Threshold & others of this ilk should be grabbing this one up fast.

Andyman1125 A brilliant show of continuity and traditional metal.

*And a note, I'm rating this on it's progressiveness...* At last, we have the final installment of Dominci's epic trilogy, 03, the story of a terrorist who's mission was to essentially end the world by converting 02 (oxygen we breathe) into 03 (ozone, poisonous to breathe). From each edition, Dominici tweaks and messes with his sound. On the first album, he debuted as a solo acoustic guitar/singer, on the second he debuted his top-notch Italian prog metal band in an epic foray of great progressive metal, and on his third album, he continues this prog metal, but mixes a great many spices (some of them a wee bit stale) of traditional metal and thrash metal that dampens the great taste he had on the last album. Now, the last album was essentially another Dream Theater album with Vanden Plas mixed in, but it was still a great album. On this album, he tales all that and adds some not-so desirable influences. The album as a whole is good, but it's not spectacular. For the plot, it has broken completely from the main character (who has presumably died) and focuses on the entire world as an omniscient character, with some focuses on the detective (apparently named Anthony Dam).

The King of Terror outlines the current state of the world at war. It talks about the absolute chaos the population is currently in, after the massive explosion/terror attack that the main character had initiated. Musically, the song is quite diverse, starting out as a slow and somber track, but at one point it blasts into a metallic fury, which is actually quite a blast. The music is a little boring at times, but the lyrics, as always in this trilogy, are actually quite creative and poignant.

March Into Hell continues with the story of the chaotic state of humanity, delving deeper into the fact that the apocalypse is coming quite soon (if it hasn't already happened). Musically, the song is a little harsh. Dominici really strains is vocal chords this time with some crunchy vocals in the verses... it's a little alienating. The music sounds a little traditional, with some interesting instrumental sections and some pretty simple soloing, not like the complex solos heard in the last album.

So Help Me God focuses on the Detective Anthony Dam. Dam is praying to the Gods who he blames for the most part for the tragedy. He prays to stop it and get him out of this, which is legitimate. Some really great lines can be found in here lyrically, with some fantastic meanings. Musically, this track is another "eh" track. Of all the tracks, it is the most "eh" track. I mean, it borders on pop. Everything about it screams cheesy ballad, which is a little sad for the great metal man Dominici.

Liquid Lightning is one of my favorite tracks on the album, with some actually pretty cool riffing and instrumental and vocal pieces happening through the album. This track details how the armies of the world are experiencing the first signs of divine or extraterrestrial influence in the wars. This shows how the Anti-Christ wars detailed in the book of Revelation (I'll get to that in a second) are beginning. Musically, as I said before, this song for the most part ends the trend of boring tracks on the album. However, this track is one of the more Metallica-inspired tracks with a little but more thrashy roots, with much more "prog spice" thrown in as well, making this one of the better tracks on the album.

Enemies of God (the first 10+ minute track he's made! hooray!) is the next in line for this album's better tracks. This track details someone's (most likely the detective's) experiences with some kind of capture (most likely of a divine nature). Musically, it is again pretty interesting, with a lot more divergence from the typical thrash metal of the rest of the album. Typical of any good "epic", there is some really nice dynamic changes, from the hard metal to a softer proggish sound. Overall, this is one of the better tracks on the album.

Revelation is, sadly, an "eh" track in a chain of great tracks. Lyrically, it is essential, detailing how the detective dug "deep" and found a long lost (gasp) bible! In the bible, he found the (gasp!) book of Revelation, which essentially told the same story as what was happening around him. Musically, I call it an "eh" track only because the tracks surrounding it are bounds better than it, but it is bounds better than the tracks before Liquid Lighting (the "very eh" section). The music can get a little but traditional pop-metal at times, but then it breaks into some really cool experimental soling and prog metal-sounding soloing.

Hell on Earth is a good track, although Dominici's vocals sound rather strained again. It tells of the Gods' disappointment with humanity because of their failure to do anything they (he? she? it? I don't know) told us to do. Musically, the song is rather interesting, with some rather creative sections, and some more traditional sections, which continues the amazing continuity of traditional metal throughout the album.

Genesis is no doubt the best track on the album. Nearly no boring repetitive metal sections are found in this quintessential track. This track, lyrically, is purely amazing. The God's take Anthony Dam, the last living human on earth to a secluded garden where he is to live the rest of his days. His name tag when he is first captures reads "A. Dam," so the divine figures refer to him as Adam. They take some human DNA from his ribcage to make a female counterpart for him so they can live in harmony, restarting the cycle of life. Musically, it is spectacular, opening with an infective little proggy riff on the keyboards, which quickly is matched by the guitar, bass, and drums. This creative riffing changes throughout the song, but is still incredibly proggy and creative. The song puts such a great twist to the story and ends the trilogy spectacularly. Bravo!

ALBUM OVERALL: The epic conclusion to an epic trilogy is... not as epic as I just made it sound. At the forefront of this album, one may begin to believe Dominici had fallen into the grasp of popular metal. The music is a stale combination of the prog metal that most of us love, and the thrashy metal that most of... don't. As the album progresses (how fitting), the music gets progressively (ha ha) more progressive! Traditional song structure breaks down, songs get longer, all that good stuff. The story line is really what holds this album up above a lower rating, however. Dominci's lyrical skills haven't diminished since he helped Dream Theater way back in 1989, and this album's great lyrics and story really hit a chord. Overall, 03 part 3 is good, but it's not a must-have. 3+ stars.