AFM Records
2013
1. Per Aspera Ad Astra (Intro)
2. The Game
3. Keep Your Dreams Alive
4. Black Knight Of Magic
5. Betrayal
6. No Escape
7. Pray On My Soul
8. Earth Is Going Down
9. Return From Avalon
10. Through Your Eyes
11. Novum Initium
Masterplan's latest, Novum Initium, is the kind of album that makes me just a little nervous going in. The band has been on shaky ground with the member changes, particularly when it comes to their on and off again experience with Jorn. Mike DiMeo, who I do in fact like, failed to quite fill Jorn's shoes and oddly when Jorn came back he failed to live up to his own previous work too. The bottom line for me is that the past two albums were not as memorable and haven't really stuck with me. Given yet another shakeup in the vocal department here I had to approach this one with a bit of caution. I do like Rick Altzi though so that is a plus.
Novum Initium does start off pretty well with a solid sound that fuses power metal and melodic rock again in a way that is fairly smooth yet heavy. Rick Altzi also seems like a good fit for the band as he has a similar approach and sound to Jorn. In terms of overall sound and first impressions I found myself optimistic about Novum Initium really. The thing is that despite a pretty good sound, the whole thing ended up ringing just a little hollow for me. Something is missing here and I think it's imagination. This is an acceptable Sound, but I found in the end that the song experience blended together and I didn't find myself particularly latching onto the material. It's like the band knew what made the first couple albums good, but they tried so hard to replicate it that they made an album of B grade mimics of what came before. Something's off here and I'm pretty sure what's missing can be chalked up to a really safe album that lacks creativity. Certainly, this could have been worse and the band weathers the storm of member shifts, but the experience viewed as a whole just underwhelmed me.
I guess the verdict on this has to be the band manages to bring the Masterplan sound back together, but there is nothing here that brings anything new or adventurous to the table. I can sort of understand why the band tried to be safe with a new singer and the band on shaky ground, but this is just too safe to be interesting. Novum Initium is just too cookie cutter to be exciting or all that memorable. I have to give this a mediocre rating because really because it's all flash and no substance. A smooth, well produced melodic power metal sound is nice and all, but you have to have more original songs and creative flare to back it up. This just doesn't. This reminds me a bit of a cover band of the Masterplan who put together the first couple of albums and my patience is running a bit thin with the band.
Highlights: Black Knight Of Magic, The Game
Rating - 2.5/5
2. The Game
3. Keep Your Dreams Alive
4. Black Knight Of Magic
5. Betrayal
6. No Escape
7. Pray On My Soul
8. Earth Is Going Down
9. Return From Avalon
10. Through Your Eyes
11. Novum Initium
Masterplan's latest, Novum Initium, is the kind of album that makes me just a little nervous going in. The band has been on shaky ground with the member changes, particularly when it comes to their on and off again experience with Jorn. Mike DiMeo, who I do in fact like, failed to quite fill Jorn's shoes and oddly when Jorn came back he failed to live up to his own previous work too. The bottom line for me is that the past two albums were not as memorable and haven't really stuck with me. Given yet another shakeup in the vocal department here I had to approach this one with a bit of caution. I do like Rick Altzi though so that is a plus.
Novum Initium does start off pretty well with a solid sound that fuses power metal and melodic rock again in a way that is fairly smooth yet heavy. Rick Altzi also seems like a good fit for the band as he has a similar approach and sound to Jorn. In terms of overall sound and first impressions I found myself optimistic about Novum Initium really. The thing is that despite a pretty good sound, the whole thing ended up ringing just a little hollow for me. Something is missing here and I think it's imagination. This is an acceptable Sound, but I found in the end that the song experience blended together and I didn't find myself particularly latching onto the material. It's like the band knew what made the first couple albums good, but they tried so hard to replicate it that they made an album of B grade mimics of what came before. Something's off here and I'm pretty sure what's missing can be chalked up to a really safe album that lacks creativity. Certainly, this could have been worse and the band weathers the storm of member shifts, but the experience viewed as a whole just underwhelmed me.
I guess the verdict on this has to be the band manages to bring the Masterplan sound back together, but there is nothing here that brings anything new or adventurous to the table. I can sort of understand why the band tried to be safe with a new singer and the band on shaky ground, but this is just too safe to be interesting. Novum Initium is just too cookie cutter to be exciting or all that memorable. I have to give this a mediocre rating because really because it's all flash and no substance. A smooth, well produced melodic power metal sound is nice and all, but you have to have more original songs and creative flare to back it up. This just doesn't. This reminds me a bit of a cover band of the Masterplan who put together the first couple of albums and my patience is running a bit thin with the band.
Highlights: Black Knight Of Magic, The Game
Rating - 2.5/5
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