EMPYRIA — Sense of Mind (review)

EMPYRIA — Sense of Mind album cover Album · 2002 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Sense of Mind" is the 4th full-length studio album by Canadian progressive/ power metal act Empyria. I haven´t listened to any of the three albums that came before "Sense of Mind" so this is my first encounter with the band.

The music on the album is in US power metal style with some progressive elements. The US part is important to mention here as the music on "Sense of Mind" has little to do with the whimsical keyboard dominated European power metal style. Comparisons to acts such as Metal Church, Fates Warning, Queensrÿche, Crimson Glory and Heir Apparent are apparent. The music on this album is what my mamma used to call "real" metal. Heavy guitar riffing, a powerful lead vocalist and a great pounding rythm section. There are sporadic use of keyboards and piano on the album, but the dominant instruments are guitar, bass and drums. Lead singer Philip Leite is a real treat IMO. in addition to being a really skilled vocalist he also has a great voice for this kind of music. If I have to make comparisons to one of the better known vocalists in the genre it would be Ray Alder (Fates Warning, Engine, Redemption). The rythm section is as mentioned really strong but in the instrumental department I must admit that I mostly focus on the excellent guitar work by guitarist Mike Kischnick (Thor, Severed Serenity). Heavy, powerful riffs and great melodic solos are played with ease. Most songs on the album flat out rock and there are no better examples of that than "Ties That Blind" and "Heaven´s Cry". The latter mentioned even has an almost thrashy opening riff not far removed from the famous "Symphony of Destruction" main riff by Megadeth. The slightly progressive edge that sometimes occur in the music can be heard on songs like "In God´s Hands", "Prejudice Reigns" and "Forever".

The sound production is good. The guitar is loud and raw, The vocals are high but balanced in the mix and the rythm section sounds powerful too. I appreciate that the production is not too polished, which sometimes kills the power in music like this.

I´ve really enjoyed my first encounter with Empyria and "Sense of Mind" is highly recommendable to fans of old school eighties US power metal/ progressive metal. A 3.5 star rating is warranted.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

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

Traumatica Metalcore
NO GUERRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Within the Visceria Death Metal
NECKBREAKKER
Buy this album from MMA partners
EP 1 Sludge Metal
CHAOTIC AGGRESSION
Buy this album from MMA partners
Songs of Blood and Mire Black Metal
SPECTRAL WOUND
Buy this album from MMA partners
Everything Hurts And I'm Dying Atmospheric Sludge Metal
NEGATIVE BLISS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Origin Of Infinity - Chronosphere (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
ORIGIN OF INFINITY
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Kingdom of Heaven - “Pleasures of Pain”
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Bosh66· 1 day ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days 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