The dynamic vocal duo; Jorn Lane
(Masterplan, Jorn, Avantasia) and Russell Allen
(Symphony X, Adrenaline Mob) is back with a new
album entitled 'The Great Divide' and this time the
production has made a major difference in it's
formula, songwriting and production. This time
is taken care of by Timo Tolkki,
the former Stratovarius member. The
three previous albums (The Battle 2005,
The Revenge 2007 and The Showdown 2010)
had another Nordic guitarist as the big engine
and a big reason for the big
success. Off course I am talking about the
multi talented Swedish guitar player and
songwriter Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear,
Last Tribe, Starbreaker).
Magnus Karlsson is one of my absolute
favourite guitarists and he is also one
helluva songwriter and this maneuver
with replacing Magnus towards Timo
created some (read big) skepticism from
me. My negative reflections first: The
sound picture is little different and
the guitar parts haven't the same high
quality skills as before and Timo's Finnish
power metal touch shines through now and then and it
doesn't feel as rock solid and tight as on the previous
Allen/Lande albums. The positive stuff:
Jorn sings better than he has done in years and in
comparison to his own solo productions
this album is far more enjoyable and
digestible. Russell is the stronger
vocalist of the two (in my world anyway)
and Russell seems to have lesser singing
time on this album than the big
Norwegian vocal powerhouse.
The tracks feels very tailored
to each singer and the variation in the
songs feels quite interesting. My
anticipated doubts are not fulfilled, no
this album holds a passed with
distinction level. Timo's previous two
lukewarm albums are the 2 poorly
received Avalon projects, both falling
productionwise as well as song writing-wise, but
nothing is recognizable here - this sounds more
alert. With two awesome and powerful
vocalists together with blazing guitars,
most tracks are worth buying. There
are some tracks, which stands out on the
album like; 'Dream About Tomorrow', 'In the
Hands of Time,' 'Come Dream with Me' and
'The Hymn to the Fallen'.
In the mid-tempo tunes like 'Lady
of Winter' and 'Solid Ground', the guys
show off their very best and then
there’s a brilliant metal ballad
(Bittersweet), which closes the album.
Surprisingly strong disc that
will appeal to many rock/metal fans.
Line up:
Jorn Lande: vocals
Russell Allen: vocals
Timo Tolkki: guitars, bass, keyboards
Jami Huovinen: drums
Produced by Timo Tolkki
