I've always been a fan of instrumental albums, from JOE SATRIANI's "Surfing with the Alien" to CONQUERING DYSTOPIA, they've highlighted talented musicians. So ANGELS ON THE BATTLEFIELD was something to look forward to. From the opening though it seemed confused. Not that his vision of what JD wanted was lost, just that "Leap of Faith" felt like it was a bunch of parts put together without a map to make it smooth. The transitions felt forced, almost like they were there just because.

Fortunately, the entire album didn't fall into this trap. "Beauty in a Body Bag" was fluid, well mixed and, well fun. As was "A Walking Plague", which was a festival of odd time signatures that were well thought out. The production of those songs was where the confusion reigned. The individual elements all had great sound, drums, guitar, the bass, but there were too many guitar tracks, washing out any chance of really appreciating any solo being attempted.

It really was the production of the album that let it down. After an almost perfect mix on "A Walking Plague" The levels, both volume and EQ took a turn for the worse and the mix on the final track "Weathertop" sounded like he mixed it, then ran it through a ghetto blaster and recorded it with another one placed beside it. It was painful to listen to.

JD McGibney is a talented musician, this is undeniable, but fell into the hole of self-production. The mix was poor song to song, with me actually having to turn up some songs because of the level change. Had this actually gone through a final mix from an outside source it might have gotten a much higher score, but unfortunately we're once again wondering what if...Production  6