This was my first exposure to the prog-metal outfit Elegy, and honestly I found it to be nothing particularly special.... at first. Parts of several tunes became stuck in my head and I found myself digging the cd back out for closer examination. But is it power? is it progressive? is it hard rock? That brings us to one of the most notable qualities of the band, is an overall very high pitched sound. The vocalist, E.A. Hovinga, naturally sings in the higher spectrum of the vocal range, and the guitars are styled to sound very neo-classical and bubbly yet very shrill. The combination gives them a very distinct sound, mostly set by the vocalist. They have since lost this very unusual sound, with the loss of their vocalist and the changing of the style to fit the new singer's voice. Which makes this an even more unique trip back into time.

The songs are really difficult to complain about. Ten tracks, all sounding basically the same at the core, with a very few exceptions and two being instrumentals. "Take My Love" is my favorite, which actually bounces between an attempt at doing a bluesy kind of sound and the huge wall of prog-infested sound that just busts down the musical doors. The chorus is really nice...with "had enough, take my love, I don't need it anymore". With the explosion of vocals, and the overall bouncy nature of this well put together tune, it puts it on the top of my favorite lists for this band. Even the repetitiveness is easily overlook thanks to lots of squealing guitar. "Over and Out" is another really nice tune, buried in a hard rock sound, however the high vocal delivery pulls it into the realm of prog-metal.

"Labyrinth of Dreams", the title track, is really beautiful. The guitar is so pristine that its almost painful to listen to and the solo is breathtakingly beautiful. The vocals, swap between this deeper, lush, soulful sound, and the higher pitched wailing to really add a nice emotional spin to this song. There's enough backbone (heavy bass and fairly thundering drumwork for a ballad) to keep it from fitting the sound of the ideal power ballad. The center of the song is richly progressive sounding and the guitar is just everywhere. Its a really addictive song that is just made to sing along to. "The Guiding Light" is no doubt about a speed-prog song, that will appeal to any Stratovarius - Angra fans. The instrumentals on the other hand, are wild guitar fests. "All Systems Go" has a nice overall melody that keeps it from being an assault attack of random guitar notes played at breakneck speeds. Play this on loud levels frequently and you'll go deaf though. Lots of prog and speed sounds mixed in. Short, sweet, fast and furious, all these things describe "Mass Hysteria". If you think Yngwie's guitar instrumentals are all for showing off then, this song can be easily described as purely a show of virtuousity. Guitar fans will love it though.

The rest of the songs are less memorable, but are still toe tapping tunes with terrific rhythms and song structures. "The Grand Change", "I'm No Fool", "Trouble In Paradise", and "Powergames". They all sound more or less similiar with some different elements thrown in here and there. Not much to fault, except for repetitive similiarity but that's usually called "upholding a unique sound" isn't it?

All in all this is a great disc, it flows nicely, with each song complimenting the other excellently. Guitar dominated prog metal that will please anyone that is interested in this type of music. Hard rock fans will most likely discover something to enjoy about this cd as well, for all the songs are straight forwardly structured. There's no extended keyboard solos, or plodding progressive parts, the music gets up and goes and keeps going. Its also of note that this cd was originallly released in 1992, and to my knowledge, there weren't exactly a ton of bands out there producing this kind of metal at the time, so that's just another element that makes this release of note.

Rating: 8.4
by Alanna Evans
Metal album reviewS