Oh my God! When “Valkyrie” starts with the piano parts on “Prince Of The Moon”, I am thinking that I am listening to the “Gutter Ballet” era of SAVATAGE. But that soon changes, as the music becomes very fast and furious, like Speed and Thrash Metal mixed with Heavy Metal . Apparently EMERALD RAGE take the second part of their name very seriously. These guys from Akron, Ohio, are presenting us with their sophomore album “Valkyrie” and have the audacity to start with a song that is just about eight and a half minutes long. It is quite varied in speed and intensity, but never tapers off and is able to keep you interested all the time. What a brilliant start of an album.

EMERALD RAGE has the ability to use a lot of influences and sounds and mix them up in such a way that it stays interesting all through the album. That does mean that for over 53 minutes you will be concentrating on everything that the band is throwing at you. “Archangels” is also quite long, but again, doesn’t disappoint at any time. Very fast, but also still very distinguishable in every aspect. You can separate every instrument, hear every stroke or hit and every breath. Yes, that does mean that “Valkyrie” has been given a very satisfactory production, making it an absolute joy to listen to.

The variety and diversification keep up throughout the whole album, making the next seven songs, even if a few of them are quite a bit shorter than the first two, the right kind of addition to “Valkyrie”. There are two songs that stand out for me. They are the title song, which is quite lengthy at 5:46 minutes. This is due to the epic nature of the music played. But most of all I am very much Impressed by the closer of the album, “Paradiso”. It has all the elements that make EMERALD RAGE a worth while band to listen to. This song could easily be classed a Progressive Metal, as it houses a lot of breaks and very intricate details and extreme ability and musicianship.

I guess you have gathered from my writings that really am digging EMERALD RAGE and “Valkyrie”. Well, I am, very much so. It is therefore my pleasure to give this album a very good rating. No, not the ultimate one, as I feel and hope that they can improve in the future. And if they do, I need the space to let them know.