Stephen
I still remember how I admire STORMZONE's 'Death Dealer' and I had high hopes for 'Zero To Rage' but sad to say that I was left disappointed after couple of spins. Maybe because it lacks of punchy riffs, half of the album was draggin' too long for over 6 minutes when they can just cut it to 4, the production is quite decent but the drums sound kinda weak. Not to say that most of the songs are bordering average with only couple of stand-outs.
'Where We Belong' is almost the same as IRON MAIDEN's 'The Wicker Man', the solo is nice though. 'Zero To Rage' has great chorus packed with very nice rhythm and riffs. 'This Is Our Victory' is the most brilliant track of all. It started slowly and cracks up high with a blistering tempo and superb solos, definitely my fave right from the beginning.
Now spinning to the second half, I rarely can find something that made me awe like 'Victory', that's just too bad. 'Fear Hotel' and 'Empire of Fear' are good but 'Uprising' and 'Monsters' are fillers I guess. 'Cuchulainn's Story' is nice, the riffs are brutal and the whole song is interesting, but then 'Voice Inside My Head' was thrown away to the back. Melodic heavy metal is the name of the game, quite similar to the earlier album, only this is somewhat weaker. If you want to test the water, try 'Death Dealer', but this one is quite harmless to have for a bargain price.