Stephen At first, I thought "The Battle" will be the sole project of the two infamous names, Russell Allen and Jorn Lande, but apparently they proved my opinion wrong with the 2007 follow up, "The Revenge". Still supported by the remarkable virtuoso, Magnus Karlsson, Allen/Lande continues the melodic metal saga with a string of mindblowing tracks. The sound production is excellent, the vocals delivery are unquestionable, the band is tight, but when everything looks flawless, I see a weak point of the album which lies on the songwriting aspect.

I'm not saying that they didn't write great tracks, in fact, the majority of the songs here are carefully crafted, enjoyable, and none of them is bad. But if you hear the whole 12 tracks here, everything seems too predictable and formulated, from the acoustical guitar/piano intro, the groovy beat, the drum patterns, and worst thing is, most of them seems to lack the crowning moment chorus that could be a million-sales hits.

Some of the standout tracks here are "The Revenge", a mid tempo opener with a stunning chorus, "Will You Follow" and "Just A Dream", huge chorus tunes with great groove and nice melodies, "Gone Too Far" with its gorgeous verse and pompous chorus, and "Wake Up Call", a pure melodic metal bliss with an anthemic chorus. If you like ballad, then "Master of Sorrow" is probably their strongest offering here. A beautiful piano-driven ballad that flows very well with Jorn Lande's passionate singing. "When Time Doesn't Heal" also is a spectacular power ballad with great verse, but somehow I think the chorus is slightly weaker than "Sorrow".

With half of the record suffers with decent chorus making them an average quality song, most of the times, they still showcased a superior technical ability of the band, which is a plus point of the whole album. I saw an improvement growing from their debut and if they can maintain the trend, the third release could be better than this, if any. Aside from the forgivable weakness, "The Revenge" is sure still a solid release and make a great addition to your library.

ovidiu Fantastic project released by FRONTIERS RECORDS,one of the most amazing albums of melodic metal ever!When we think only to this 2 fabulous vocalists -JORN LANDE is a phenomenon and RUSSEL ALLEN -the driving force from SYMPHONY X,the final result couldn't have been a disspointing one!The fact is that this album is better then the fantastic debut one THE BATTLE- named album of the year in 2005 by many metal sites and magazines!MAGNUS KARLSSON-the composer and the guitar player on the album shines here at 100% and delivers all his tremendeous talent in brilliant compositions where he is offering also some stellar guitar solos!Wonderful production and diverse compositions-from power ballads ,passing by mid tempo heavy songs ,combining marvelous vocal performances and heavy riffs with crunchy guitar solos-we are spoiled and delighted with very high quality melodic metal here and the duo ALLEN LANDE is on top,unleashed and very inspired really!KARLSSON also is offering solid compositions,really beautiful and perfectly well composed tracks that will plenty satisfy the most pretentious melodic metal fan!!!I was sure that THE REVENGE is impossible to beat THE BATTLE!Well..MEA CULPA!I was wrong..IT'S BETTER!This year, in 2010 it seems that we'll have a third episode of the project,and God only knows how will be the new album?!?!Undoubtedly the high standard put by the first 2 albums demands something more now,but I am sure nobody will be dissapointed!Anyway..ALLEN LANDE is one of the strongest power melodic metal projects ever and FRONTIERS were very inspired to put together such amazing performers!500 STARS for something magical!!!