Metal Underground.com

Putting together a band and an album at the same time is quite a feat. That Alliance frontman Joey Polidori put the band's debut disc, "Stand In My Way" together so well is a tribute to his strength as a player, arranger and songwriter.

Polidori lists Metallica and Megadeth as two of his prime influences, and you can definitely hear some Hetfield in his vocals on "1000 Dying Men (I Am)," which is quite reminiscent of the mighty Met's work circa "Load" and "ReLoad." "Who Says" is more reminiscent of Metallica's earlier work, with a guitar break that is quite reminiscent of Kirk Hammett.

As for the Megadeth influence, it's quite present in Polidori's lightspeed lead guitar work on "Stand In My Way," which effortlessly threads high-pitched solos through the instrumental interlude that ends the song. "Alone In The Dark" is reminiscent of Megadeth circa "Cryptic Writings," with a riff reminiscent of "Trust" and an excellent, if short, acoustic interlude.

At the same time, Polidori incorporates prog-rock elements a la Dream Theater, adding complexity to tracks like the slow "Beyond The Ripped Sky" and the album's closer, "A Reason," with a couple of tricky speed changes.

On the negative side, the album doesn't exactly put its best foot forward with the opener, "A Sight To See," which lacks energy in comparison with everything else on the album. Other than that, there's not much to dislike here, save a couple tracks that could have been a little more tightly edited.

An excellent debut disc, Alliance's "Stand In My Way" shows that frontman Joey Polidori could become a potent force in metal. If you're looking for melodic thrash packed with excellent guitar work, this is one to pick up right away.