Well, it is my first time listening to STONE SOVEREIGN, from Australia, and although I can certainly appreciate the effort they put into this record, I have to say that this is not exactly what I expected.  Just to get straight to the point, even after listening to this one track-by-track, over and over,  I simply don't get it.

I really tried to do this track by track, and I started over and over again., only to come to the same conclusion each time. It's just not that good. There's not a single song that you can say is salvageable. I feel that the composition of this album is made by parts, extracted from too many genres. Melodic Death Metal, mixed with Black, mixed some Heavy, and they decided to put this altogether without considering if if would work well.  It's like a machine composed by many parts of other machines, that don't fit very well, but still try.

The vocals, are pretty standard, and there's nothing to really highlight there. The riffs are plain, simple and repetitive. The songs all go the same direction, and while this is consistent, it's not in the good way like AMON AMARTH can be consistent.  While the bass is something different, that's really probably the only positive here, and not by the quality of the lines, but because there are moments, where you can hear the transitions. They're done well, and that's something. The drums, well, let's just say there are drums here. Lastly, the production; it's simply horrible, I think if they had done a better job of production, things may have seemed better. But as it is,  the quality has failed, and failed by far.

I think STONE SOVEREIGN may just be starting out, and for that, I have respect.  Hopefully the band will learn from this experience and the opportunities presented, and gain a lot more maturity. I really think if they accept some of my critiques it will help them on their next releases. But for now, with "Tales of Myth and Madness" you would do well to pass.