Reptilian's last effort, Thunderblaze, was a complete turd in my opinion. Before giving us a new album, they have released an EP of unreleased material and Japanese bonuses and it is a step in the right direction after their last train wreck of an album.

Opening with the instrumental and almost Malmsteen-like virtuoso soloing of the brief introduction track "Sleepwalkers," we are dropped right into the title track. This song certainly gets back to their roots in metal and is evocative of many of the greats from the past. Culled from the recesses of bonus-track land, this was a good choice as the focus of this EP. It also reminds me of how killer their debut was. Passages of this song mirror bands running the gamut from Iron Maiden to Deep Purple to Blind Guardian. If Thunderblaze had songwriting and killer riffs like this song, it would have been a completely different album. Jonas Blum still annoys me to an extent by using the upper registers of his voice on this song but he makes up for it on the next song "Raging Storms." This track was one of the few exceptional tracks from their last album and showcases the very best this band can offer. As a quasi-ballad song, the tempo is slower and easily conjures thoughts of 80’s Whitesnake or Dokken. By no means take this as a criticism, the harmonies are thick and without a doubt this song could be included on any "best of metal ballads" compilation. This is stuff your girlfriend likes and the stuff she forces you to sing along to in the car.

Continuing with the bonus motif, we are given Reptilian's rendition of Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance." I hated this version as the bonus of the last album and my opinion has not changed much in the interim. However the last track "Behold Nemesis" shows the band incorporating neo-classical elements into their music again, especially in the keyboard parts. This element was critically lacking in their last effort but I am happy to say that they have brought it back here. If this is a harbinger of things to come in Reptilian’s future music, than bring on a new album. I can forgive Thunderblaze. Again Jonas Blum does his best not to overextend his vocal range and combined with some ass-blasting drum tones and Stratovarius-styled keys, we could have a mammoth album from these guys yet again.