You may recall these guys from a previous entry on here, but now they have a brand new lineup. Here we are, Mike Hunsicker is there as always taking on the role of lead guitarist and singer. I must say, after following the band from their original lineup up to now he has gotten quite a lot better at vocals. Now, there is another guitarist, Keith and a new drummer, Dave. Each of which are rather good at what they do, and are coming into their own as part of the band. You may notice while watching their latest live videos that there is a bassist. Truth be told, he is Mike DeMaria, the guitarist from Alustrium (a very good death metal band from PA) and was willing to lend his time for the show. Even though they do not yet have a permanent bassist, they are avidly searching and continue to write new tunes. OK then, back to the show.
With new members there is always the question of how they will perform live. To my surprise they fit in pretty well, especially for their first show with the band. Granted, the first song “Eyes of the Warrior” started off a tad shaky, but after that things started to mesh. They eased into the rest of the set with another older song, “Everlasting Hell” which has also turned into a fan favorite. Playing your two most recognizable songs in the beginning can be a gamble, but it was one they were very willing to take.
Kicking off the second half of the set was “What Lies Within,” which can be considered their ballad type song. Really, it’s their most power metal song, and has an incredibly catchy chorus. Arguably, it may be considered their best song, and thankfully they did not fail to disappoint. This was made all the better when “The Tremendous Struggle” (I can’t help but laugh and wonder how tremendous that struggle really is) wrapped up the set. If “What Lies Within” is their ballad then this is their straight up melodic power metal song. The chorus may not be as memorable, but is still up to par to get the crowd going. Granted, the solo over the almost hardcore breakdown isn’t exactly needed, but at the same time it doesn’t detract from the song that much.
So there’s the good, and as with nearly every show there were some problems. While they were able to come together as the show went on there were points in which transitions from distorted to clean guitars felt awkward. I understand playing guitar and singing at the same time isn’t the easiest of tasks, but there were a few times when the vocals seemed to be a tad off, and it would be interesting to see if a background singer could fix that for live performances. Everyone had stage presence except for Keith, which ended up making his side of the stage relatively boring with the exceptions of when Hunsicker would venture over there. The more I listen to the band the more I realize they would benefit from a keyboardist, and while it isn’t a complaint of their performance it would definitely enhance the band as a whole.
Granted, they have a way to go still before they sound as tight as bands such as Stratovarius, Blind Guardian, Nightwish, or Kamelot but they are off to a rather good start, or I guess re-start, or maybe re-re-start depending how you look at it. It will be most interesting to see how they progress in the coming months as they continue to play more shows and eventually find a bassist (hopefully when they do he won’t get stuck in a pod). You can check these guys out simply by clicking here, where you can listen to their four song EP.
Or simply take a look at some live footage from the show:
What Lies Within
Eyes of the Warrior
