Moonlight Agony is ready with their sophomore album 'Silent Waters' and a few things have changed; the line-up underwent some changed since their debut album 'Echoes of a Nightmare' was released in 2004, most notable is the changing of the guards at vocals, where David Åkesson, whom some of you might know from Frostbite, has replaced Chitral Somapala. David comes across with more power and conviction.

Musically they have also moved on, where their first album was pretty much basic power metal with a few progressive influences, this one is pretty much the other way around. Sure some the neo-classical influences are at hand, but they've been more in the background as motives.

Fundamentals still lays somewhere between Evergrey, Helloween and Symphony X - never reaching those giants, but it gives you a pretty good idea of what kind of ground we are covering here... The solid guitar work is still the bands' force, and David Åkesson fits the music very well and does a good job on the album.

Solid song writing, solid musicianship, great artwork and... No, the album isn't flawless - the mediocre production does sadly spoil a lot of the fun! This kind of metal demands a good production - but I am sad to say that this one is nowhere near that. Horrid sounding drums make me shake my head in disbelief more than once during the 45 minutes, which this album runs for...

The result is an album, that surely shows a band moving in the right direction musically, but this album is missing a vital part to take it beyond a sound release. But don't let that scare you off because it's absolutely worth checking out.

Recommended: "You Betrayed Me", "Soulless" & "Solemn Waters".