OLIVER MAGNUM — Oliver Magnum (review)

OLIVER MAGNUM — Oliver Magnum album cover Album · 1989 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Oliver Magnum" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by US, Oklahoma based heavy/power metal act Oliver Magnum. The album was released through New Renaissance Records in 1989. Oliver Magnum were formed in 1983 and released a 1986 demo before being signed for the release of this album. It turned out to be their sole studio album as they disbanded in 1997 without releasing any further albums.

Stylistically the music is a combination of traditional heavy metal and US power metal. A combination of "The Warning (1984)"-era Queensrÿche and 1982-1985 Iron Maiden is a fairly valid description of what the music sounds like. Oliver Magnum are very well playing musicians with tons of skill, and every note is delivered with great conviction and passion. While the instrumental part of the music is powerful and tight, the vocals by James Randel take the music to a higher level. His predominantly high pitched delivery is powerful but he can also sing more raw type vocals, which brings nice variation to the vocal part of the music.

The material on the 8 track, 38:56 minutes long album is well written, relatively catchy, and above all highly energetic. While most tracks are hard edged heavy metal tunes played in a fast pace, there are also both mid-paced heavy parts, and some atmospheric clean guitar parts featured on the album. "Evilution" is for example quite the epic track, which features clean guitar parts. The album is well produced featuring a powerful, detailed, and clear sound. The snare drum has a bit of a "thin" sound, but other than that, this is a very well sounding release.

Upon conclusion this is probably an album that came a bit too late to make any real impact on the scene. This type of metal wasn´t exactly in fashion in 1989 (had this been released just a few years before it would probably have received quite a bit more praise), but it´s actually a real shame, because it´s a high quality release through and through. It doesn´t feature anything you haven´t heard before and in that respect there is a lack of originality, but on the other hand Oliver Magnum are both skilled musicians and composers who know how to write and play a great heavy/power metal track, so I´m gonna let the lack of an original sound pass this time around. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.
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