Rage
“Unity”
(SPV)
The album opens with a drum and guitar dirge reminiscent of the opening of Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil” then plunges into a technically proficient Voivod influenced segue before striking out into a full force avant garde form of European Power Metal that outshines the typically mundane efforts of their peers in the same genre by several million fucking light years. This three piece plays with incredible precision and passion that the listener cannot deny. I haven’t heard a single note by this band since their 1988 release “Perfect Man,” and in that time they’ve shaped up beautifully, appear to have smarter lyrical content and a vastly improved technical powerhouse sound that only the bare embryonic beginnings of were heard in the late ’80s, but then again the only member still holding over from those early days is bassist/vocalist Peavy Wagner whose distinctive vocals keeps at least a semblance of direct continuity going back to Rage’s foundations as Avenger in 1983. I’m not saying this is the perfect album but in the land of power metal it’s about as damn close as you’re likely to find in 2002, baby. Ya dig?
