Arkeyn Steel brings us so many bands that otherwise would have been lost to the vagaries of time and an over commercialized music scene. In October this year they reissued DEELER's complete catalogue, including previously unreleased material, on a limited edition double-CD, "In Distant Mirrors." DEELER was a Prog/Power Metal band hailing from St. Louis, Missouri in the mid-80's through mid-90's. Their debut album, "Deeler," was first released in 1989. Their follow-up album, "Awakening in Me," was released five years later. Both albums had limited runs.

There are three types of people who buy these types of albums: existing fans, collectors, and metal historians. Incidentally these are the same people who like demos and live albums (excluding live albums from the 70's, the decade of the live album). I could add a fourth, the curious, and I suppose this is who this review is for. If you are any of the first three, you don't need convincing to buy this album - the power of your compulsion compels you. "In Distant Mirrors" comprises a wide variety of musical styles. Even the songs directly from the original releases are eclectic. From riff-heavy tracks to spoken word vignettes to ponderous ballads to inspiring epics, these guys are all over the page. Some may call this diverse, some may call it Prog. Personally, I think it's a sign of a band trying to find their feet. It may also be why we the band didn't make it bigger, though that's also a function of discretionary time and income.

Disc one definitely trumps disc two. Throughout both discs, there are some killer moments such as the riffs on "Burning Horizon" and the oh so groovy bass line. You can pretty much use the same words to describe "Take Command," btw. My personal favorites are "Angel of Death," a demo which for some reason never made the regular releases; "Voice in the Desert" with great vocals, tight orchestration, and intriguing lyrics; and "Transgressions" with trade-off vocals, a great solo, and strong riffs. "One Small Voice" is also very good. On the downside there are a lot of tracks that are unlikely to win new fans and, again, will probably only appeal to the first three categories of listeners I mentioned-existing fans, collectors, and metal historians.

"In Distant Mirrors" does make an interesting listen. The historian in me is thankful to Arkeyn Steel for bringing this band to light. The album is a very cool trip on the way back machine. You can imagine with one more release, DEELER may have hit their stride. All in all, though, as Joe Weir says on "Wild Cards 2": "Though the game's not over until it's done / I am confident we've already one."