Formed in 1988 and hailing from Dayton, Ohio the band SHADOWCAST did not exist long, managing to record just two four track demo's before disbanding two years later. The eight songs from aforementioned demos now brought together and released as one full length album entitled ''The Premonition'' on Arkeyn Steel Records. While the label describes the band's music as Progressive Metal along the lines of Fates Warning and Queensryche, I would argue that the music on offer here is more of the traditional Metal variety with substantial Progressive Metal influences, a fact perfectly demonstrated with the opening track ''Black Trinity''. Avoiding any form of unnecessary intro the song storms out of the gate with a galloping groove, strong melodic vocals and a pumping bass line that holds no prisoners and is a solid if unspectacular way to kick off the album.

Second song ''Necropolis'' begins slightly slower than the opening track but soon picks up pace with a good mix of pounding and in your face double bass and guitar mix, the progressive influences mentioned earlier noticeable in the rhythm section which manages to make the song interesting by throwing in subtle but well timed breaks in the drum and bass department. Moving away from the sometimes more fantasy tinged lyrical themes often associated with this genre of Metal, the band opt to instead cover more contemporary issues such as corruption and social unrest. That the lyrics were written more than ten years ago but that are still relevant today making them even more poignant.

''Deception Game'' picks up the lyrical theme covered in the previous song with an interesting rhythmic structure that sounds at once fragmented but cohesive bringing to the fore the band's Progressive Metal influences and reminding the listener more of the likes of Anacrusis than Fates Warning Changing up the pace, the fourth song ''Prelude '' begins with a melodic acoustic intro before the main riff kicks in resulting in a slightly slower number that recalls the mighty Queensryche especially in the vocal department. Like the two previous songs this track has an interesting rhythm showcasing the more than capable musicianship of all those involved with a somewhat complex interplay between the drums and bass. This becomes particularly effective towards the end of the song when the aforementioned two instruments are the only thing that is accompanying the vocals which are themselves underlined by a melodic chorus.

The more the album goes on, the more heavily used the Progressive influences become making for an interesting listening experience that nevertheless never gets boring. After listening to The Premonition like so many times before, I find myself wondering why bands like SHADOWCAST were not able to make it bigger as the Metal world ends up losing yet another talented and interesting band. Fans of good, well played and interestingly structured traditional Metal with heavy progressive influences should definitely check out SHADOWCAST as I guarantee that they will not be disappointed.

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