LABŸRINTH — Return to Heaven Denied (review)

LABŸRINTH — Return to Heaven Denied album cover Album · 1998 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
1967/ 1976
With this album Italian Heavy Metal is finally considered in other countries. Finally! Besides the musicians are all of the teachers in the respective instruments. Then I had the luck of to know Olaf Thoersen during and after a free Vision Divine concert in Moraro (Gorizia): great man and guitarplayer. Well... This is one of the first 5 Speed Power Metal album of the story. All the drums are played by Frank Andiver, another great drummer (also with the Speed Prog Metaller Shadows Of Steel in that years) but the drums is only an addiction in this album because recorded in Zenith Studios in Lucca and the album was recorded in famous (for Metal) New Sin Studios in Loria (Treviso) that with this album (and others: Domine, Elvenking for examples) did the bang. Well, and the music? Great music. Because Rob Tyrant play with the voice in enormous manner, Olaf Toersen play the guitar in great manner (like usual for Olaf), Anders Rain is good, Chris Breeze is more than a bassplayer (see his work with Shadows Of Steel, music based in continuous soli... But in this work is simply great), Andrew McPauls plays the keyboards in great manner (even if here they have a marginal role, not like in Shadows Of Steel works where Andrews soli and rhythmic contributions... are simply torrid!!!) and the drummer is torrid (I speak of Frank... That for Andrea "Tower" Torricini, that work with Frank in Shadows Of Steel albums, is one of the 5 all time drummers). So the music is a great Dolomitic wall... Well a wall to climb... A northern K2 wall... The speed is like a TGV speed... The sensations are like a simply sex session... The listening is very gratifying. But in this album I've preferred songs that I love from 1998. These songs are: "Moonlight" (my second Labyrinth hymn and a great Speed Metal song), "Lady Lost In Time" (emotional song), "Heaven Denied" (the more melodic song in this album, a sort of Power Metal first Asia version), and "Die For Freedom" (the song that I love in this album, pratically my preferred Power Metal song!!!).

The style of this album is Speed Power Metal with Prog attitude ans, so, "Return To Heaven Denied" is a perfect album. Finally I bought the CD (that replaced a copy MC), and I'm proud to be decided to do myself it. Because "Return To Heaven Denied" is simply the start of New Wave Of Italian Heavy Metal!!!
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
m@x wrote:
more than 2 years ago
A great album indeed !!!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Besra – Unsullied (Music Video)
BESRA
Bosh66· 10 hours ago
Tethered - Breathe (Official Video)
TETHERED
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Walking The Blade (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - The Negative (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Drowning feat. Taylor Barber (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed