innish guitar maestro Lars Eric Mattson returns with his most prolific and powerful release to date. Power Games features Mattson teaming up with vocalist extraordinaire Lance King, delivering an intense collaboration of highly melodic progressive material.
Power Games kicks off with the free for all "Open the Gates"; that mixes moodier tones with highly technical, progressive elements. This sets the scene for the rest of the CD. All tracks except for the all instrumental "Beyond the Horizon" showcase Lance King at the top of his game delivering soulful vocal arrangements that are powerful yet full of emotion and feeling. King has one of those silky smooth voices that is well suited to Mattson's over the top guitar heavy compositions. One can hear the intricate melodies of bands like Dream Theater or Fates Warning throughout all the compositions. Other influences include more mainstream bands like Queensryche. Melodic sensibilities are showcased with an intertwining of sheer musical virtuosity from both Mattson and King.
Further highlights of this CD include the all acoustic "Chained to My Pain" where Mattson stretches out acoustically, providing a nice respite from the more chaotic tracks that follow. Mattson really lets loose on the all instrumental - "Beyond The Horizon", shredding through a wide range of textures and styles that incorporate, neo-classical, jazz, free form fusion, power metal and straight up rock. The final track on the CD "Lead Me on My Way" is a nice funky number with some great use of the wah, wah - icing on the cake if you ask me!
Power Games is intense, progressive, melodic and full of life. Mattson and King gel like a tight woven fabric to produce intelligent, complex music that should rival today's best progressive offerings.
innish guitar maestro Lars Eric Mattson returns with his most prolific and powerful release to date. Power Games features Mattson teaming up with vocalist extraordinaire Lance King, delivering an intense collaboration of highly melodic progressive material. 