Metal Underground.com

Livesay's "Awaken The Giant" puts the power in power metal, with Alan D'Angelo's thick, heavy bass lines providing an expert counterbalance to guitarist Gregg Livesay's high-pitched, high-speed solos. The effect is to create a far greater sense of melody and groove than you'll find on most progressive and power metal discs these days.

Sure, Gregg Livesay's going to rip up the fretboard, with tracks like the instrumentals "Aphasia" and "Dance Of The Egyptian King" featuring the kinds of solos that wouldn't be out of place on a Michael Angelo Batio disc, as well as a greater emphasis on Anthony Stahl's keyboards, which pleasantly range from symphonic to synthetic sounds. That said, Livesay shows some pretty remarkable restraint on tracks like "The Burning Times" and "Tower Of Silence," in which he wisely gets out of the way of singer Dean Sternberg.

Sternberg more than holds his own against the instrumental assault, with his soaring vocals on "Zero Hour/Awaken The Giant" particularly standing out. His voice soars when it needs to, but never with the kind of operatic theatrics that sometimes make power metal feel a little lightweight.

There's not a single bum track on the album, though "The Agonist," which is a bit reminiscent of Faith No More in its heavy-bass and drum approach, could've probably been edited down a bit from its near-13-minute length.

Sure, Gregg Livesay and the rest of the band are all virtuoso musicians and show their chops off to maximum effect on "Awaken The Giant." More impressive, though, is that they know when to pull it back in favor of straightforward melodies that reveal equally impressive skills as songwriters.