Stephen If you're craving for unorthodox and intelligent metal mixtures, and also praised yourself for being such a fan with multitude interests in this genre, then Hunted might quench your thirst. "Welcome The Dead" will flip you upside down with many styles, from progressive to NWoBHM to American power metal, all stacked in one tall pole. The level of difficulty based on the technical play and songwriting delivery is high, so it's not very friendly for casual fans, or at least, you need to take a peek a few times before swallowing the foods they offered.

"The Silence of Minds" bounced with a groovy riffs on a dynamic tempo platform, the adequate melodic is blended well with the aggressiveness of the core arrangement, 'Dream Theater meets Opeth' is the closest comparison I can think of. "Chosen" sounds very American, with Chris G screams like Ripper Owens and Thomas' pounding drums will reminds you of Van Williams, this track is a blast and perhaps can be a track from Iced Earth's catalogue. The longest track comes next, "Aria", which I swear is greatly influenced by Metallica's "One", the harmony is powerful, the composition is hauntingly beautiful, a brilliant thrashy ballad.

"Impaled" will surprised you with a death metal drumming at first, but somehow in the end, the song is just don't shine, like for example, "Scars". The Maiden riffs with melodic domination is superbly done and Chris G's high notes demonic scream now reminds me of Geoff Tate or Midnight in their prime age, this is another highlight of the album.

Picking "The Heart Collector" is an obvious declaration that Nevermore is definitely one of their gurus, and the clue can also be found in "I Want Nothing" where the hooks are clearly Jeff Loomis' favourite style. However, I'm eager to see a more furious technical track such as "Narcosynthesis" or "Inside Four Walls" from the same album, done in Hunted style. An interesting start for them, I will need to see a more mature and inventive songwriting in the second album, but yes, definitely a good start.

Bottomline : Chaotic and clever in one package, unraveled with multiple spins

Time Signature Metal of minds...

Genre: progressive power/trad. metal

This stuff is actually kind of good. You would probably have to give the album a spin to get used to some things - such as the vocals, which may at first sound very weird because singer Chris G. has such a unique voice. It may sound overplayed and strange at times, but he is a talented singer, and I think deserves credit for not being afraid to sound different and original.

The music sounds very Maiden-inspired, and it is progressive in the same fashion as Maiden's music is with numerous tempo changes, guitar melodies and lots of different riffs in one song, while the chord progressions themselves are not really that complex. A lot of the changes come out of the blue, and, while that may not appeal to everybody, I like those changes; just check the sudden change in "Silence of Minds" at 1:50 - that sounds like "Phantom of the Opera" for advanced learners.

It should be mentioned that Hunted are not a Maiden clone; they are actually pretty original. I just think they've listened to a lot of Maiden and lets themselves be inspired, and I totally understand that (I am, after all, a Maiden fan, too). Also, Hunted sound just as much inspired by speed metal and progressive power metal as well as traditional European power metal.

Hunted make use of dissonant chords and alternative chords (rather than just the classic rock power chords), and I think that is refreshing, and there are, as mentioned above also elements from speed metal and power metal on this album. For instance, "Impaled" is pretty much a speed metal song, while "I Want Nothing" sounds more like the Helloween of the 80s.

I like how Hunted's music is both complex, with a lot of wee details, chords, harmonies and changes, but yet very much observant to power metal and traditional metal convention, which means that, no matter how weird things get, there will always be something to guide the lost listener back on track.

Recommended to fans of power metal, progressive metal and pogressive power metal. But, as mentioned, you might want to give the album a couple of spins.