Stephen Axel Rudi Pell might be one of the most productive and consistent shredders, hitting the 14th release with his “The Crest”, together with the exact same formation when they put out “Tales of The Crown” two years earlier. For those who have been following him since his “Wild Obsession” era, definitely won’t be surprised by anything he offered here. The same style melodic metal, thick riffs, soaring vocals, careful arrangement, tight rhythm section, incinerating solos, yes those are almost always included in each of his albums, and that also goes with “The Crest”. The problem for long time fans is this pattern can be redundant and it seems like hypnotically we’re bound to buy this album every time he released a new one, and for me, “The Crest” is another safe attempt to emulate the success of his previous efforts and unfortunately, doomed to be uninteresting anymore.

Three obvious strong tracks on this album are “Too Late” with the usual upbeat rhythm packed with a strong and furious riffage. “Prisoner of Love”, a great commercial and radio-friendly midtempo melodic metal, which is the best track of the album as well. “Glory Night, a piano-driven ballad which intro can remind you of Coldplay’s song, but then flowing smoothly into the old-fashion Pell’s ballad. It shares the similarity with his classic tune, “Your Love”, from the first Ballads series. The rest, honestly, are good tracks, none of them are fillers or worst, but then, listening to this album is simply deja-vu, you think you’ve heard them before somewhere. “Dark Waves of The Sea” is a slowtempo epic, has the potential, but it’s just too long and repetitive. “Burning Rain” started promising but again, flopped to be a decent attempt. “Noblesse Oblige” is a mandatory instrumental track, felt uninspiring but not bad. “The End of Our Time” is a slowtempo heavy ballad, a good track but not outstanding.

“The Crest” is a fun exploration for new fans or casual melodic metal lovers. The sound production is very good, the front sleeve image is also nicely designed, Gioeli’s vocal is always stunning and untainted. For hardcore or long time fans, “The Crest” is an old formula, unnecessary purchase except for completist.