REVEAL is a Power Metal band formed by the stellar collaboration of well-known musicians from Sweden and Spain. Their debut effort "Timeline" gathered really positive feedback from the press all over Europe. This time, they are parading their sophomore release "Overlord". I'll have to mention that the sound of the album (or the band themselves) is experimental. It's primarily power metal, but there are certain stains of Nu Metal,Heavy Metal and occasional Thrash. It is also very notable that they were looking to make it sound old school/raw the way it was mastered. In terms of influences, I can here semblances of SONATA ARCTICA, GAMMA RAY, HEAVIEST, and some tiny bits of WINGS OF DESTINY.

The album is energy packed and dynamic. There's this opening track "The Name of Ra" which is a typical hero themed power metal with a moderate tempo and controlled execution, then there's this single called "I'm Elric" which is reckless and devastating right from the start. On the flip side, there's "My Pain" which is easily a slow rock meets sleaze glam kind of song. It has a very emotional mood and equally emotional lyrics, which somehow makes it a bit uncomfortable to listen to considering it was surrounded by speedy attitude filled tracks. From there on, the tracks become so predictable because when you hear "Metal Skin", everything after that song kind of sounds the same. And that is a problem that was a result of their lack of twists and turns. Yes, there are occasional shifts in the gears but it was all in the tempo. I understand that they are trying to follow the MANOWAR foundation of power metal which means they wanted to be loud and strong all the time, but by doing that, they have sacrificed the aspect of originality.

Although I have mentioned earlier that their sound is experimental, it still lacks creativity and originality because the mixture of their sound is basically cut-outs of the models laid by classic power metal bands like BLIND GUARDIAN, MANILLA ROAD, and LOST HORIZON put together and directed to create a MANOWAR kind of atmosphere. To add more on the song writing, what I have noticed is that the songs lack those powerful, catchy and anthemic choruses which give life to power metal. The songs are also made too long when there are transitions that could have easily been cut out without affecting the quality of the songs negatively. Because of that, the overall memorability of the album is also in big question. Mediocre album, I must say.