Kev Rowland In Seattle in 1984, high school friends Ted Pilot (vocals) and Ed Archer (guitar) teamed up with lead guitarist James Byrd, completing the line-up with Ken Mary (later Alice Cooper, House of Lords) and bassist John Macko. Their debut album was self-released and self-funded, was picked by Roadrunner in Europe, before the band was signed by Epic Records for a seven album $21 million deal. A second album followed in 1989, but due to a new musical phenomenon also coming out of Seattle, the band soon called it a day. Fast forward to 2010 and they were asked to headline the Keep It True festival in Lauda-Koenigshofen, Germany. Gathering many of the core members and adding Heir Apparent vocalist Peter Orullian, (Ted Pilot is now an endodontist practicing in Seattle and was not able to sing for the reunion). The band was also writing new material which finally reached Nuclear Blast who signed them up for the band’s third album, nearly thirty years on from the last one.

The line-up these days is guitarist and lead vocalist Kendall Bechtel (who appeared on the second album), bassist John Macko and drummer and backing vocalist Ken Mary, which is certainly going to be interesting going forward as these guys sound like a standard twin-guitar five-man line-up instead of a trio. I haven’t heard the earlier albums, so can’t say how this compares, but what I can say is what we have here is classic power metal heavily influenced by Dio-period Sabbath. Bechtel is a fine guitarist, but where he shines is definitely in the vocal department as here is a guy who can really sing. He has all the power and timbre one could wish for in this style of music, which is heavy, fast, and one can imagine them suddenly switching into “Mob Rules” at any moment.

There is the obligatory power ballad of course, but these guys shine best when they are in full flight. There are strong hooks, great performances, and overall this is quite a comeback album. It will be fascinating to see where they go from here, but whatever happens Fifth Angel are very much back.

Stephen "Time Will Tell" is the final offering of the Seattle-based heavy metal band and featured a new guitarist, Kendall Bechtel, in replacement of the original axeman, James Byrd, due to disagreement of royalty payment arrangement when they were signed to Epic Records. Departed from their earlier effort, "Time Will Tell" continued the trend with a thicker commercial breeze to reach a wider audience and cited as one of the late 80s overlooked melodic metal gem with a blend of Dokken, Iron Maiden, and Queensryche in their musical mix.

From the majestic fist-pumping opener, "Cathedral", Fifth Angel has stimulated the mood and hunger for a stunning metal odyssey onward. "Midnight Love", a spellbinding commercial rock with some spectacular solos is a strong pulse of the album while "Seven Hours" possessed the same quality, got a notable Iron Maiden influence, especially from "Somewhere In Time" era, with an elegant sing-along chorus. Both clearly are my favorites. "Broken Dreams" is a good ballad with a bit of Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool" formula, nothing particularly new but at least better than "So Long", a mediocre effort which can be a Dokken leftover.

The band's metallic rendition of UFO classic, "Lights Out", is pretty awesome but I was blown away when "We Rule" cranked out of my speakers. The typical Judas Priest firm shouts with double-pedal attack and a great guitar duels made this one a standout number. Fifth Angel ended the magical journey with "Feel The Heat", a radio-friendly with poppy hooks, could be a sequel to "Midnight Love", a bit cheesy in someway but still a valuable goody.

"Time Will Tell" is a forgotten jewel of the 80s, truly deserved a better appreciation, and what was once an expensive rare item, now can be found quite easy with the Sony Collectable remastered edition. A phenomenal release!