UMUR "Maniacal Renderings" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US power/heavy metal act Jon Oliva´s Pain. The album was released through AFM Records in September 2006. It´s the successor to "'Tage Mahal" from 2004 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Shane French has been added, making Jon Oliva´s Pain a sextet on "Maniacal Renderings". The two full-length studio albums are bridged by the June 2006 "Straight-Jacket Memoirs" EP.

Stylistically the material on "Maniacal Renderings" continue in the US power/semi-progressive (only the longer tracks) metal style of "'Tage Mahal" (2004). It´s more or less a continuation of 90s Savatage with Oliva on lead vocals. While the instrumental part of the music is certainly performed by skilled musicians (all had previously played with Circle II Circle), it´s Oliva´s distinct sounding voice and passionate delivery which are in focus. The tracks are all well written, intricate (the heavy riffs and leads are often amazing), and also relatively varied in style. The album features both ballads, power ballads, progressive epic tracks, hard edged US power metal tracks, symphonic moments, and even what I´d characterize as a full blown thrash metal song in "Push It to the Limit". I always knew Oliva would be a kickass thrash metal vocalist, and this proves it...

..."Maniacal Renderings" features a relatively well sounding production. All instruments are audible in the mix, and Oliva´s vocals are especially well produced. The drums unfortunately feature a weak cardboard box tone, and a more organic sounding drum production would have boosted the overall sound a lot. The rhythm guitars can also be a bit low in the mix on some parts, and all in all it´s just not as great a sound production as you could have wished for. When that is said "Maniacal Renderings" is still a quality US power metal release, and fans of Savatage should of course give it a listen. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "'Tage Mahal" is the debut full-length studio album by US heavy/power metal act Jon Oliva´s Pain. The album was released through Steamhammer Records in October 2004. After touring in support of "Streets: A Rock Opera (1991)", Jon Oliva stepped down as the frontman for Savatage. The years of Life on the road had taken their toll on the frontman´s voice (which was worn) and label pressure of selling albums had led to Jon Oliva developing a nasty alcohol and drug addiction. He remained associated with the band as composer and occasional keyboard/piano player but his main interest in those days was preparing a broadway musical and preparing the early foundation for Trans-Siberian Orchestra with Paul O´Neal. He shortly returned as a frontman on the self-titled 1994 Doctor Butcher album but it wasn´t until 2003 when he founded Jon Oliva´s Pain, that he would finally return as a frontman in a metal act again.

The music on "'Tage Mahal" is traditional heavy metal/US power metal which really isn´t surprising considering Jon Oliva´s past achivements. It´s kind of a continuation of the late eighties Savatage sound albeit with more keyboards and piano. The material are generally very well written and performed (Jon´s powerful rusty vocal delivery is as impressive as ever) and the album also features a well sounding production, which boosts the material. The vers/chorus based song structures are slightly generic in nature but the sophistication of the arrangements save the day every time. The album features both heavy tracks, more theatric tracks, a few faster paced tracks and quite a few power ballad type tracks.

"'Tage Mahal" is what I would characterize as good craftmanship from a seasoned singer and composer. It´s not an album that´ll surprise you or challenge you if you are already familiar with the back catalogue of Jon Oliva, but if you are a fan of that, "'Tage Mahal" is definitely a worthy purchase. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.