adg211288 US metal vocalist Lance King has been in quite the handful of bands by this stage of his career, but it’s taken until 2011 for him to release a solo record. A Moment in Chiros is that solo album, and continues King’s work within the progressive and power metal genres. The album features a host of additional musicians including Morten Gade Sørensen (Wuthering Heights, Pyramaze), Kim Olesen (Anubis Gate), Jacob Hansen (Anubis Gate, Invocator etc), Michael Harris (Darkology, Thought Chamber), Elyes Bouchoucha, Malek Ben Arbia and Anis Jouini (all of Myrath), not to mention several others. In other words there are far too many to list here without dominating the review.

I first encountered Lance King through the band Pyramaze and their album Legend of the Bone Carver, which turned out to be the last for Lance to record with them. The music of A Moment in Chiros puts me somewhat in mind of Pyramaze’s style, although it is noticeably much more openly progressive. Where Pyramaze produced power metal with progressive tendencies Lance King is putting out progressive metal with power metal tendencies. It’s a rebalancing of influences between the two styles, but I can see fans of Lance’s work with Pyramaze lapping up A Moment in Chiros. It also puts me in mind of Anubis Gate’s recent work due to the highly melodic approach to creating progressive metal. With AG’s Kim Olesen being one of the most key instrumentalists here, contributing guitars, bass and keyboards as well as producing the album with his former AG band mate Jacob Hansen, maybe that’s not surprising.

A Moment in Chiros is a solid outing of progressive metal. While highly melodic there are plenty of heavy riffs to sink your teeth into and personally speaking I don’t think I’ve heard Lance King sing better than this. He came across as something of an acquired taste in the Pyramaze days but puts on the sort of performance here that is an instant attention grabber. I haven’t heard the music from all the projects Lance has been involved in, but for me this is without a doubt his best vocal performance so far.

And the music behind him doesn’t let him down either. The tracks are varied, professionally produced and well played. There is a little use of electronic elements but fortunately they don’t hinder this album as they have done in some other metal albums. That’s because they’re there for flavour and don’t dominate the core progressive metal style, something which is never compromised throughout the album’s eleven tracks, although there is the seemingly obligatory ballad in 777. Kibou. Being a concept album is does also fall prey to the use of narration (one reason why it instantly reminded me of Legend of the Bone Carver) that ultimately neither helps nor harms the record in my view.

While there are a couple of tracks that aren’t up to the same standard as the album’s best offerings A Moment in Chiros is overall a highly consistent progressive metal effort from Lance King and his collaborators. An exceptional score is more than deserved and I’m looking forward to hearing more solo work from Lance King.

9.0/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))

Time Signature A sense of urgency...

Genre: progressive metal

The seasoned vocalist Lance King has fronted many bands throughout his career, and last year the time came for him to release a solo album - namely "A Moment in Chiros", which is released on his own Nightmare Records.

Stylistically, "A Moment in Chiros" falls under the rubric of progressive power metal which might be described as a blend of Anubis Gate and Queensrÿche (back when Rÿche were more interesting). Artistically, I think that the type of melodic progressive power metal that Lance King delivers is actually quite successful. The performance is tight and there is a certain groove to the compositions, which also strike me as multi-layered and dynamic, but never so whimsical or quirky, that the casual listener can't keep up. King's flirtation with keyboards and electronic elements every now and then could be a recipe for potential disaster to some, but he more than gets away with it, as it actually fits very well into the very melodic sound.

We are definitely dealing with sophisticated and progressive music. However, a central element is a good dose of catchy melodies - especially in the choruses - which is why "A Moment in Chiros" is not prone to alienating people who are not into progressive or avant-garde music. Lance King's voice reminiscent of that of Geoff Tate at times - but also quite unique, and the way he delivers his vocals (with plenty of clarity and power) is destined to make the tunes on the album even more compelling than they already are instrumentally.

Additionally, the drumming (provided by Morten Gade Sørensen og Wuthering Heights and Pyramaze fame) is as precise as a clock, and guitar solos from Anubis Gate's Kim Olesen are nothing less than virtuous. Unfortunately, the bass is not as prominent in the overall mix as it should be, but it serves its purpose.

Fans of progressive metal and progressive power metal along the lines of Queensrÿche, Artizan, Anubis Gate and Pyramaze should check this album out and enjoy the streamlined and sophisticated melodic music it has to offer.

Stephen Apart from my utmost respect to Lance King for his massive vocal performance back in his BALANCE OF POWER days and his idealism with Nightmare Records, I can't help myself to say that 'A Moment In Chiros', his solo debut, is a very average output. The main problem is there's no single song that's strong enough to strike you hard in the first spin. Probably only 4-5 good tracks here with the most outstanding tracks are 'A Sense of Urgency' and 'A Given Choice', but that two tunes alone can't save the terribly mediocre second half.

It's obvious that the first 4 tracks are the goodie but as soon as you've heard the title track, not to mention it drags too long at 7 minutes, you know you'll ran into trouble. 'Infinity Divine' is the last good track, 'Joy Everlasting' starting to ruin the mood, but then 'Sacred Systems' and 'Transformation' finish the game badly.

This album contains a healthy mix of progressive part and melodic metal, and the production is good, but sadly the songs don't speak much. I'm not sure whether I can recommend this to a casual fan, but if you're a fan of Lance King himself, a spin or two won't hurt. 55% at best!