Solely between guitarist Vince O'Regan and keyboardist Irvin Parratt of ESCAPE, the band has a resume a mile and a half long. The pair have separately (and sometimes, together) played on countless recordings as session musicians and/or sidemen, building a respect throughout the industry with their ability and versatility. ESCAPE was originally formed by O'Regan in 2011-2012, and they have released two previous studio albums in 2012's "Unbreakable" and 2013's "Borderline". Now, with the help of a new lineup of seasoned journeyman musicians, we have their third release, "Fire In The Sky", which is set to drop April 30, 2021.

The opening track of the new album, "Lost And Found", has a powerful keyboard and guitar driven intro, and features some excellent vocal work from Graham Beales. The song is well written, but the keyboard is a little heavy handed in the mix on the chorus, almost to the point of overtaking the other instruments and vocal all together. It is still a solid opener, however, and put me in mind of some of the early to mid-eighties Trevor Rabin fueled YES.

"Heroes In The Night" is similar to the opener in musicianship and writing, and a good follow up to the opener. The mix is better on this track, and you can begin to hear the instrumentation work as one unit. The rhythm section of Pete Betts and Bob Pears works particularly well on this song, and O'Regan's guitar solo is flawless.

There are two cuts from Bob Catley's (MAGNUM) solo releases which are included on this record, both written by O'Regan. The songs are both from Catley's 2006 release, "Spirit Of Man", on which Parratt and O'Regan also played. "Blinded By A Lie" is a powerhouse, holding great musicianship across the board, with another fantastic vocal from Beales. There is a bridge here, leading into a rather brilliant guitar solo, where Pears absolutely shines with his drum fills. The second of these tracks is "Walk On Water", which is a beautiful power ballad. If nothing else, the musicianship involved on this release is enough to hold the most critical minds' attention. The songwriting is solid throughout, as well, and with the exception of the mix on the first track, the album flows seamlessly. A great effort from these guys.