The name Power Quest might sound awfully familiar to some of the power / speed metal fans reading this. Why? Well, the band was formed in 2001 by former Dragonforce keyboardist Steve Williams. Instead of raging fast, melodic speed / power metal, Steve focussed on modern power metal. The latest effort of this British / Italian band is called Master of Illusion, and is not uninteresting, might I add.

Master of Illusion is a record with a classic approach. High vocals, accessible melodies and fast guitar solos. Vocalist Alessio is able to raise his voice to incredible heights, and sometimes it seems as if he’s reached his limit. This is a feeble spot, because the harmonics that are used in the vocal lines cover up the fragile high notes, which makes it sound a bit unnatural. The mid-high vocals and the tight guitar riffs make up for a lot, and makes one remember what power metal was meant to sound like. The keyboards come forward with leads but tend to stay on the background for most of the time, which is an element that emphasizes the mystic (and appealing) side of Power Quest. Thus, the songs sound very different and don’t get boring quickly.

Lyrically, power metal is all over. Take ‘Kings of Eternity’, for example. The tight drums take it to an up-tempo level, with again the fragile really high vocals at certain points. It doesn’t spoil the fun entirely, though. Musically, the song sounds really epic and feels like a track that is worth playing a lot of times. There are progressive elements, as well. Some riffs go down another lane than consisting of just plain power chords and there are some raw vocals featured on ‘The Vigil’.

Although not mind blowing, Master of Illusion is definitely a good power metal album. And if you take into consideration that it is by no means a Dragonforce clone but an innovative band with interesting ideas when it comes to song writing, there’s lots of room to have a listen and decide whether or not you want to purchase this.