Ever since I became a fan of the band EDEN'S CURSE a few years ago, one thing I was always impressed with is how their albums sounded after being mixed and mastered by the team of Paul Logue and Dennis Ward. The latter in particular has been an important part of the band and has been responsible for mastering their albums after they have gone through the mixing stages producing a remarkable outcome every time. Now, the time has come for me to check out some material from a band that Dennis plays in outside of his mastering albums job and the band I will be checking out today is KHYMERA.

Originally formed in 2003 in Italy, KYHMERA are a Melodic Rock group that released their debut self titled studio album the same year they got together. For the second album, the lead vocalist on the first album Steve Walsh left the group leaving the vocal duties down to bass player Dennis Ward who was originally the bands backing singer but took up lead vocal duties for the second album "A New Promise" in 2005. This new change in vocalists might have been a risky move but it was welcomed by the music community as the second album was well received and praised by critics alike.

Seven long years have passed since the release of the third album "The Greatest Wonder" but now the band are back and ready to release the long awaited fourth release which comes with a completely new fresh line-up and sound so does "The Grand Design" have what it takes? Let us find out shall we?

Clocking in at around 54 minute long across 12 new songs, "The Grand Design" is a brilliantly crafted album that combines the best of Melodic Rock & AOR in the songwriting to deliver great musical entertainment for the ears. Appearing alongside Dennis on this album are some of his friends from the Rock and Metal scene including Paul Logue (EDEN'S CURSE) on songwriting duties, Pete Newdeck (TAINTED NATION) on backing vocals, Felix Bohnke (EDGUY) on drums, Eric Ragno (DAVID READMAN), Jim Rykbost on keyboards and Michael Klein (WICKED SENSATION) on guitars. Together this band of talented musicians come together to form a new KHYMERA complete with new musicians, new songwriting and new fresh talent and the end results are excellent.

The moment this album opens up with the peppy "Never Give Up On You", you are given a little taster of the brand new KYHMERA and needless to say it delivers with style. This opening song alone is enough to impress you thanks to the cheerful melodies, catchy guitars and powerful vocals which all leave your ears wanting more.

As the record continues on, the listener is treated to 11 more gems that leave them even more impressed. Some of these include the cheerful AOR number "Tell Me Something", the relaxing "I Believe" and the peppy lead single "A Night To Remember". Other noteworthy songs include the punchy title track "The Grand Design", the calm and relaxing "Streetlights", the cheerful "Finally" and the beautiful closing number "Who's Fooling Who".

From the mastery of the song writing to the tight musicianship, this album really gives you a taste of European Melodic Rock at it's finest.

Bottom line, the new album from KHYMERA is 12 fantastic slices of European Melodic Rock with excellent songwriting, masterful melodies, crisp production and superb musicianship which all come together to make a great Melodic Rock record. If you're a fan of great sounding European music, Melodic Rock or anything put out by Frontiers Records then this is a must listen as it is excellent.