Crystal Age

Yeow! From the opening yell, you just know that this is going to be an intense experience. Far Beyond... just starts, and before you even start to deal with the intial adrenaline rush, you're subject to 35 minutes of some of the most technical, disjointed metal to come along in many moons. Yeah, the guitar lines are insane, the double bass drumming inhuman, but we also know that these guys can also write SONGS, as they proved with Hammerfall!!! Rob told me that this is based on the Star Wars Trilogy, and in thinking about it, that makes a lot of sense. So lyrically (if I understood one freakin' word Oscar was wrenching from his polyp coated esophagus), it may be a masterpiece, but I can't listen to this album for more than like five minutes at a time! It's somewhat like watching Tom and Jerry on acid. Guitar line here, double time kick drums, start screaming, what the hell is going on? Unfortunately, there is some good stuff to be found here, and these guys are obviously very technically adept, but that alone does not a good album make, and Far Beyond Divine Horizons just isn't for me. I look forward to hearing Dimension Zero, though, as Hans Nilsson if harnessed, may prove to be one of the more interesting drummers to come around in a while.
5 out of 10