This is progressive metal the way it ought to be played, with conviction, power, and finesse. Outworld's debut self-titled CD is a killer collection of furious energy, littered with plenty of virtuoso guitar work courtesy of Lion Music shredder Rusty Cooley, wild keyboard textures from Thought Chamber's Bobby Williamson, a more than solid rhythm section, and over the top vocals from Kelly Sundown Carpenter, who sadly has left the band since the recording of the CD. With 9 mostly lengthy tracks, you get a lot of everything here; blazing solos, insane interplay, bone crunching riffs, intricate rhythms, powerful vocals, and memorable songs.
Chances are if you've followed some of the instrumental guitar releases from Lion Music the last few years you've heard the name Rusty Cooley or perhaps checked out his music. This guy can shred with the best of them, and his wild chops and heavy riffs are all over songs like "City of the Dead", '"'War Cry", and "Raise Hell". Not to be outdone, singer Carpenter reaches for the heavens with his Rob Halford-meets-Tim 'Ripper' Owens delivery throughout, and Williamson is the glue that holds it all together, be it with ethereal orchestrations or speed of light synth leads. His classically tinged piano provides the perfect backdrop to Cooley's Malmsteen-ish explorations on the short instrumental "Prelude to Madness", which gives way to the crushing "Grey Tide", a song that hints a bit at the great Symphony X. This one has some fantastic melodies to go along with wild ensemble playing from the whole band.
I see no reason why Outworld can't rise to the top of the progressive metal world with skills like these. With a new singer on board, it will be interesting to see how their next release shapes up. While this one is on Replica Records, I can certainly see labels like Inside Out, Lion Music, and Nuclear Blast waiting in line to scoop this earth-shattering band up given the opportunity. Highly recommended stuff!
Track Listing
1) Raise Hell
2) Riders
3) War Cry
4) Outworld
5) The Never
6) City of the Dead
7) Prelude to Madness
8) Grey Tide
9) I, Thanatos
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