JON OLIVA'S PAIN
‘Festival’ is the fourth full length album from Jon Oliva's Pain, which unsurprisingly features some influences by Oliva's former band Savatage. The album is well produced, superbly performed and is an excellent example of progressive heavy metal. Opening track ‘Lies’, the melodically awesome ‘Death Rides A Black Horse’ and the title track are well executed intense anthems. ‘Afterglow’ starts off as an epic ballad, initially built around some powerful orchestration it has a kick ass finale with some jazzy moments thrown in. Strange as it might seem, this really does work well. ‘Living On The Edge’ is a straightforward no-nonsense rocker with the strong backing vocals providing the track with a truly memorable chorus. ‘Looking For Nothing’ is a soft gentle dreamy ballad whilst ‘The Evil Within’ provides a great contrast with its heavy grinding riffs and a dreamy retro-prog sequence around the middle of the track. ‘Winter Heaven’ has everything, starting off as a psychedelic Pink Floyd-esque ballad before leading into more of the intense grinding riffs, which provide the backbone to their overall sound. The album closes with the excellent power ballad ‘Now’. Jon Oliva still possesses an incredibly powerful voice, which occasionally reminds me of Alice Cooper. ‘Festival’ is of a consistently high standard with the variety and wealth of ideas keeping it interesting. This album should go down well with fans of this style of metal and not just devotees of Oliva and Savatage.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
AFM Records
Album
FESTIVAL
Review by Dave Crewe
RUNNING TIME:
52:06
RELEASE DATE:
22nd Feb 2010
TRACK LISTING
1) Lies
2) Death Rides a Black Horse
3) Festival
4) Afterglow
5) Living on the Edge
6) Looking for Nothing
7) The Evil Within
8) Winter Haven
9) I Fear You
10) Now
2) Death Rides a Black Horse
3) Festival
4) Afterglow
5) Living on the Edge
6) Looking for Nothing
7) The Evil Within
8) Winter Haven
9) I Fear You
10) Now
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
USA
"‘Festival’ is of a consistently high standard with the variety and wealth of ideas keeping it interesting. This album should go down well with fans of this style of metal and not just devotees of Oliva and Savatage."