SANDSTONE - Cultural Dissonance

Sandstone is a band that hails from Ireland, and are playing a mixture of Progressive and Melodic Power Metal. This is their third album so far, following their latest 2009 work, titled "Purging The Past", which amongst others, received great comments from Bruce Dickinson. Now, the band is blending two almost similar styles of music, creating something that has the trademarks and the strong points of both genres. First of all is melodic, and catchy, something that makes the music easy to get into from the first listening. Parts memorable enough, easy to sing along and a groovy rhythm section, enhance this feeling, and make the songs even better. But, along with that, there's diversity and complexity into the song structures, and enough things hidden, that the listeners have to discover with each listening. The music is heavier than their previous work, due to the addition of a second guitar, and this is a certain step forward for the new album. Along with that, comes the vocals, which are also very good, well worked, and fitting perfectly with the music, either slow and melodic, or harder and more powerful. The production is very good, as clear as should be, and points out all the details of the music. If you seek an album that can combine the fast and melodic elements of Power Metal, with complexity of Progressive, into a mixture that has no weak points, then this is an album that you should check out. After all, coming from a country with a huge tradition in music, is somehow assuring the result.

9/10