In my inner circles of experts, the moniker EDGE OF THE BLADE is a name that comes around constantly in the discussions for the recent months, EDGE OF THE BLADE is the brainchild of a talented musician/songwriter/producer and studio engineer Andrew Chick, an exciting new project that features two veterans from the British Melodic Metal scene, namely the former drummer for SHY Alan Kelly (7HY), and the highly awaited return of Mr John Francis from the AFTER HOURS fame...On July 24, their first album "The Ghosts of Humans" will hit the streets and the digital outlets stores, published by Escape Music.

This is Heavy AOR of the highest order, powerful and surprisingly stronger than expected, notably the noble voice of John Francis and this particular overall feeling of modernism under a new found metallic nature is salutary here, that sensation of greatness is even improved by a slightly down-tuned riffage convention, and an innovative sound design with sharp guitar prominence... The sound production and studio engineering duties were handled brilliantly by multi-instrumentalist Andrew Chick... Kuddos Mr Chick: That's an achievement !

Indeed, with this very attractive sound, the vocal performance by the ex lead singer for AFTER HOURS is clearly in a unexpected density, obviously one of the most impressive parameters of this album edgy and raspy with a real attractive potential... But a voice always needs some good songwriting talented method to fully develop to its maximum, that's also the good thing about "The Ghosts of Humans" the song are always first and in top notch category... "Vital Signs" or "Everything I Own".

Of course, you can't expect a brand new total game changer style, and indeed it's not this kind of album... But far from the typical cashing on the reputation of the line-up, or the speculation on the nostalgic side, this album is somehow refreshing, the song collection is efficient and the numerous arrangements are on par with the contemporary formula, richer and more adventurous than my early preconceptions... "Mr. Hell" or "River Runs Red"...

The whole genre is now in an enviable position with the possibility of regenerating itself, and bands like DEGREED (their latest "Dead But Not Forgotten"
www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/reviews/cd_3/d_2/degreed-dead-but-not.htm) or EDGE OF THE BLADE are on the peak of this phenomenon!