POWER THEORY – Driven By Fear review

 POWER THEORY – Driven By Fear

Pure Steel Records

http://powertheory.net/

Fear as all emotions humans have, has both good and bad aspects. It is a feeling that helps mankind to survive, but when it rules over all the other emotions it can be destructive. It is also known that by applying fear to the masses you can manipulate them easier. I think, without being sure, that POWER THEORY had these things in mind when they were creating this album which is their third and with a new singer (Jeff Rose). I can only make assumptions about the title of their album (since I don’t have the lyrics), but for one thing I am sure; POWER THEORY were driven by heavy metal when they were creating this release.

THE COVER: The painting of the cover has an apocalyptic appeal or I can even say that could be an image of hell. The viewer can see naked people screaming in agony and with fear in their eyes and behind them a dark rider holding a whip and a dark shadow following him. In my opinion the rider symbolizes the fear that rules upon humanity and makes it react in extreme ways. It is a cover that fits to the sound of the band and of course to the title of their third album.

MUSICAL STYLE: POWER THEORY come from the United States and their sound can be described as U.S. heavy/power metal. I think this is the tag that their label gives them. In my opinion, of course there are many U.S. metal elements in their sound like the galloping guitar parts, but there is also a strong European metal touch too. Their music sounds in my ears like a good combination of JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT and IRON MAIDEN influences. The new singer of the band also has a melodic and yet dynamic voice and there are times he brought to my mind Bruce Dickinson. All these elements, though, are combined and given in a creative way that gives to the whole album character. In a few words the band dominates upon its influences and uses them in a way that they sound fresh and sometimes original.

CONCLUSION: Here we have a traditional heavy/power metal album that draws influences from the 80’s, but also sounds fresh with a clear and dynamic production made by ACCEPT’s bassist Peter Baltes. All the elements that you need in order to enjoy a good metal album such as passionate performances, good riffs, melodies and solo parts are here and above all POWER THEORY is a band that combines passion with experience. I think the fans of heavy/power metal won’t be disappointed at all by this release.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis