HESPERIAN OPUS are a Neo-Classical Power Metal band out of Athens, Greece. This is actually their debut album and was released at the end of February. I don't know much about the Greece Metal scene to be perfectly honest. I think the only bands I know from there are FIREWIND and ROTTING CHRIST. I know a lot of bands have done Live albums in that Country, so I guess the Metal scene is much more important than I previously thought.

You can hear the musicianship of the band starting with the first second of the first song. This is pretty much a sign of things to come! Harry Loisios does a fantastic job jump starting the album with his killer riffs and shows off his skill set in a massive way. The guy can shred like the best of them and he did remind me a bit of Michael Romeo from SYMPHONY X.

You will always have that comparison with SYMPHONY X if you dive head first in the genre. These were and are the masters of the genre and have influenced so many bands out there so the comparison is natural. I would say HESPERIAN OPUS is a bit slower pace and more melodic based. Their singer has a killer voice and really reminded me of Matt Barlow from ICED EARTH. The guy has come pipes and does a great job on this album and really sounds like a natural. He brings his charisma and presence to each song and I was really impressed by his work.

The production of the album wasn't the greatest though and it did hurt the overall quality of this release. I felt some of the instruments (especially the Bass) were a bit drowned by the lead guitars and you can safely say the emphasis was on that particular instrument throughout this album. It may be a minor problem but I wanted the one band members to shine a bit. Yes, you have an awesome lead guitarist but you have to show a bit more substance though.

My favorite song is ''I am I''. This song really reminded of the great ICED EARTH (yes them again!) albums with Matt Barlow. I am slowly but surely getting to know ICED EARTH a bit better nowadays and now I can really appreciate the overall talent these guys had and the classic albums they released back in the 90's and early 2000's.

HESPERIAN OPUS definitely are a band that makes no compromise and they embrace who they are. They mix well the classic Power/Thrash Metal elements of ICED EARTH with a touch of Neo-Classical Metal like FIREWIND and SYMPHONY X but you also get from old school Power Metal elements from bands like GAMMA RAY (especially on ''Touch the Sky'').

They may not be the most innovative band out there but they mix a lot of genres together to make a striking debut release. You have a lot of potential for something far greater in the future and this a solid first album for a very promising band.