Despite achieving notoriety as Marco Hietala's "other" band away from NIGHTWISH, TAROT has actually been around since the mid 80's. Marco, along with his brother Zachary, have been performing straight-up heavy metal for over two decades! I'll admit I probably never would have heard of this band if Marco had not also played in NIGHTWISH, but that's ok. Better late than never, right?

I would love to see some of these songs live, in an arena, with pyrotechnic and light displays. Fist-pumping anthems like "Rise!" and especially "Satan Is Dead" are top-notch arena metal. Somewhat more mid-paced songs like "Hell Knows" work well too. I'm glad Zachary Hietala opens up in several songs with some technically unspectacular but still appropriate and satisfying guitar solos. I wish that he would have done that on some of the more ho-hum songs.

And speaking of ho-hum songs, the quality drops off a lot in the second half. Songs like "Sleep in the Dark" and "Magic and Technology" are content to plod along with little, if any, variation. Marco's powerful voice is wasted on songs where the music is anything but. I also hoped for more from the closing mini-epic, "Gone." It seemed to be building up to a powerful conclusion, but the song never reaches a summit.

So is this TAROT release worth the money? Probably so. I just feel that the quality pales in comparison to their past few albums. That being said, there are plenty of rocking moments. If only NIGHTWISH could still play this heavy...