Luckily Munroe got this out before the news of Metal Church disbanding, so that he could rely on interest/publicity using the ‘singer from Metal Church’ banner. So here’s to the first release for the rest of your life… Fellow Seattle-ite Michael Wilton (Queensryche) adds solos to ‘Across The Sea Of Souls’ and ‘What You Choose To Call Hell (I Call Home)’.

The disc is comprised of eleven originals and a closing rendition of Rainbow’s (another Ronnie, aka Dio) ‘Man On The Silver Mountain’. Musically, not too far afield from the last couple of Church platters, mid-tempo to upbeat, chugging guitar numbers. After the urgency of ‘Far’, the first half of the disc settles into a sameness. A little more variation in style/temp/intensity seems warranted, ‘Demon Opera’ being the first to really break out of the mold (albeit briefly), six songs in. The slower, more evocative ‘…Sea Of Souls’, with synth backing is precisely what I was looking for, unfortunately it should be earlier in the running order, to provide greater sonic contrast. ‘Desperate Man’ possesses a Crimson Glory quality (funny enough, he’s set to appear with the Floridians at ProgPower USA, in a tribute to fallen singer, Midnight). It’s also the first time Munroe’s voice shows the fire within. The guitar breaks and ringing ride cymbal in ‘Ivory Towers’ and screams on ‘Evil Genius’ are further welcome elaborations. The sexual ‘Ride Me’ is a lackluster set-up for the cover finale, delivered in its intended bluesy, 70s hard rock style. Shame about the tracking listing though, things could have been much stronger.