Good day, fellow metalheads. Today I have the chance to hold in my hands, the latest from one of my favourite bands, WISDOM, called "Rise Of The Wise". This release, on February 26^th, was their 4^th album since their debut in 2001. You can say that they are not over flooding the market with CDs, but each of their release is well thought off and the sound is researched and polished.

In 2015 they lost one of their guitar players Máté Bodor to ALESTORM and replaced him with Anton Kabanen (Ex-BATTLE BEAST). I don't know if this change has set in motion a change in sound, but this album feels a bit more guitar heavy as opposed to the last one "Marching for Liberty".

One of the major traits of WISDOM is their stability in sound. From one album to another, you can always expect the same quality and power coming out of your speaker. This album isn't the exception. This album is powerful, melodic and charming.

It opens very abruptly on "Over The Wall", this one is hard to describe. I usually try to think of it as the opening of a live show, and I have a hard time seeing the band running on stage to be ready in time. Well, it does show the band's intensity, I guess.

But all is well when we get to "Raven's Night". This song is incredibly charming, with some chorus, a magnificent hook and some great guitar solos. It is followed by an equally powerful melody that is "My Heart Is Alive". Really, those two songs are the essence of WISDOM, a charming musical background filled with emotions by Gábor Kovàcs and Gábor Nagy.

On "Hunting the Night" and "Hero", they kicked the beat up a notch. Both songs are flying by at a much faster pace. It's interesting to get this much closer to Speed Metal while staying true to the nature of WISDOM, it makes for a great symphony.

The second part of the album starts with "Through The Fire" and "Nightmare Of The Seas"; those two songs make use a lot more of the musicality of the vocals. The hook is mostly done with the vocals, while the music just follows along. Obviously the guitars aren't at rest, though; the solos are still flying around like crazy.

"Believe In Me" is the only ballad of this album, the guitar switches from acoustic to electric a few times throughout the song to give it this unbelievable emotion. WISDOM usually includes more than one ballad per album, so I was surprised when I only found this one.

The title track of the album, "Rise Of The Wise", lives up to its name, filled with solos and emotional passage. But at the end of it all, I felt like the album could have used a bit of an evolution from WISDOM.

Don't get me wrong, this is WISDOM, but it also seems like it will always be WISDOM.  Power Metal fans will find their fill with this album for sure. My only regret is this probably won't be the album that WISDOM will be remembered by. It doesn't break any barrier, it doesn't deviate from their path. Which could be viewed as constancy, but I do love some evolution.<