Album Review: EMPIRES OF EDEN – Architect Of Hope

MelodicRock Records [release date 09.03.15]

Empires Of Eden is the brainchild of Australian guitarist Stu Marshall who currently trades his wares alongside the mighty Ross The Boss in Death Dealer and “Empires of Eden” is the follow up to 2012’s “Channelling The Infinite”.

Again Stu Marshall has enlisted the help of gust vocalists from around the world with each track being specifically written for each vocalist’s style. The vocalists are also much more involved than usual with this type of album in that they write their own lyrics and vocals melodies…

So what sort of a mixed bag of tracks are on offer here…

Things open with the classic Dio-era Sabbath flavoured Vanish featuring lead vocals from Rick Altzi (At Vance, Masterplan). Primal Fear’s Ralf Scheepers lends his screams to title track Architect Of Hope which could be a track from his main band.

This is where things turn a bit dodgy in my opinion…Push The Limits is very disjointed, Taken is plain bad with George Call’s painful vocals and with Six Feet Under I don’t really get what Racer X’s Jeff Martin was trying to achieve…whatever it was he failed.

Weaponize and Silent Hell to a slightly lesser degree work quite well as traditional thrash numbers and both feature relative unknown Brazilian vocalists.

Ex-Riot vocalist Mike DiMeo helps end things in epic style with the highly atmospheric Pharoah.

Not sure why MelodicRock Records are releasing this as there is nothing melodic or rock about this release. Empires Of Eden would have been much better suited by a more metal/thrash label.

Definite mixed bags of songs and that’s where my problem lies with this. This is not something I’ll be drawn back to as it is too disjointed with so many vocal styles on offer…most of which don’t rest easy with me.

**½

Review by Phil Berisford

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IZZY REIGN Spooky Scary Skeletons (FiXT)
THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

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12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)