UMUR
"Total Level of Destruction" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish heavy metal/ power metal act Zoic. The album was released in 1996 by Powerline Records. Zoic was a short-lived project which featured several members of Candlemass and lead vocalist Frederik Ohlsson from Veni Domine.
The music on the album is power metal/ heavy metal in the vein of Queensrÿche and Heir Apparent. Frederik Ohlsson has a voice that is so similar to the voice of Geoff Tate, that you sometimes think the latter is a guest on the album. The songs are generally well played and pretty well written, but compared to the best releases in the genre, it´s a fairly standard release. The production isn´t the best either, so that doesn´t help. It´s a bit too unpolished for this kind of music.
All in all "Total Level of Destruction" is a pretty good release, but it lacks something to really make it stand out. With a superb vocalist like Frederik Ohlsson on board I had hoped for something a bit more intense and engaging, but on the other hand, projects rarely reach the excellence of full-time acts. A 3 star rating is warranted.