Power metal is a genre which we all know well. It is a genre which drives forward with galloping rhythms and soaring vocals with a lyrical focus on high fantasy. One band which have been delivering power metal for over a decade now are Max Pie who have released ‘Passengers’, their first album in six years.
Max Pie may be one of the strangest names conceived, but that hasn’t stopped the Belgian band from delivering top quality power metal and therefore it is of no surprise that with ‘Passengers’, Max Pie are up to their usual standard. This is an album which thunders along like a cannonball hurtling towards a castle wall as tracks such as ‘Only the Silence Remains’, ‘Lucy’ and the epic title track have all the enjoyability of Helloween and Stratovarius, particularly with vocalist Tony Carlino who soars like Michael Kiske entwined with Timo Kotipelto. However, what makes ‘Passengers’ so good is the shredding of Thibaut Basely who goes at the guitar like a young Michael Romeo adding a real progressive element to the album, especially through his scoring of keyboard parts that bring a certain epic nature to ‘Passengers’.
Once again, Max Pie have hit the nail on the head with an excellent power metal album, it may not get the plaudits that many of their big name peers will get this year, but that certainly does not make this album any less enjoyable.
