It's true, that it's the first time I hear of this band with the weird (and clever) name, United States of Mind. It's also true that I was first interested on the CD because of it's weird name and cover, but my selection proved my instincts right. Why?

Well, first of all because USM, a band formed by members of melodic metallers Balance Of Power, play a heavy/progressive Metal, with many Rock elements, especially in the vocals, and they greatly perform this. They are also very versatile with their style, and have equally good slow and mid-tempo songs, as well as fast ones. Also very notable is the fact they combine several styles together: a tight, American style rhythm section (drums, bass and rhythm guitars), European style melodies (guitars and keyboards) and Rock style vocals. This mix is very successful and all the songs are very interesting, because in each one, one of the elements is stronger than the other. Just listen to Terrorphobiac and then Believe It Or Not, to get the picture.

It's an album which won't disappoint, but to the contrary it will be liked by many people, with various preferences. This balance between their styles is their strength.