Reviewed by Graeme Crawford

This album, the fourth from this band from Kentucky, will always be tinged with tragedy for their fans. 19-year old drummer John Wolf, a founding member of the band, was killed in a road accident shortly after completing the recording of his drum tracks for the album. He played on all four of Final Reign's albums and the band dedicate this album to his memory. Wolf's drumming is representative of the whole album; solid and interesting, yet ultimately unspectacular. The songs are well structured, with strong riffs and good driving rhythms. Technically the band are more than competent and play like they are enjoying themselves, and Billy Winter's vocals are adequate for this style of music. However several factors let this album down badly. The production is poor, causing the sound to be muffled. Stylistically the music sounds very much stuck in the 1980s, while a number of the guitar solos sound too tacked-on and don't fit with the rest of the song. Worst of all, the backing vocals are often out of key, especially noticeable on the ballad "Falling", while the lyrics, although being God-focussed and full of Biblical truth, often resort to cliché and tend to be oversimplified. A release for hardcore Fianl Reign supporters only, I would suggest.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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