Metal Reviews

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I had BIG expectations for this, cause after being an average band for so many years I hoped that they would take the chance they got with such a great vocalist (read: THE best vocalist in metal IMO) but they failed me.

70/100

I have to agree with you on this DF.

I also i had big expectations for this , especially because of Heiman , but in then end i was left disapointed.Overall i found this album to be no different than your typical generic power metal cd.There are no real shining moments nor creativity (especially in the songs structure) on this except maybe a few highlights on the songs Terror (best of the album ino) and The Burning Vision.Other than that , pretty much all of the songs left me with a "meh" impression.Heiman presence on this is not as strong as it was on the LH albums.Don't fool yourself, there are no Cry Of A Restless Soul nor Highlander here.

I thought that maybe it would grow on me but as of now , after 10-12 listen , i can already say that it won't.Not even my bias for Heiman can save this album from.....well i'm not gonna say mediocrity but that's close and that's too bad.I truly hope that Heed will be better than that (and from what i have heard from the clips so far , it look like it will)

And sorry Marty but you shouldn't compare this with the mighty Lost Horizon .Thou shall not deserve it .

61/100

Yeah, I couln't have said it better. Compared to Lost Horizon, this sounds like a very bad joke. I would not quote any CE album over 70/100, while both LH albums are around 95/100 in my book.

It doesn't sound anything like Lost Horizon, but anyone expecting it to is deluding themself.

Its still a splid enough release, if unspectacular. I'm looking forward to seeing these guys (complete with Heiman) at Sweden Rock.

6/10
7/10 because Heiman is there.

The band is about the same as they were on their last CD, which I did like. I thought maybe Daniel could put the band up over the 80 mark but he didn't... the CD would have been almost as good with the old singer who wasn't really bad at all. Musically the band is solid and I like the late 90's Power Metal motif they have going for them. Very melodic but without overuse of keyboards, and they're not a double bass fiend band. Reminds me of old Nocturnal Rites, just not as memorable or long lasting. Solid CD though.

I have to review this CD, as well, but they sent me a damn CDR and I don't know if I like that.

All I said was there were some similarities in sound with this material to that of Lost Horizon and that it was of higher quality (i.e. above average than most) much like Lost Horizon. I didn't say it was on par with or better than Lost Horizon. Besides, as great as many say Lost Horizon are/were, the only album for me that's stood the test of time is Awakening The World.....it blows the doors off of A Flame To The Ground Beneath.....way too slick and overproduced. This Crystal Eyes album didn't strike me as being anything more than a 70 -75 score until I started to listen to it more and more. I really like the quality of songs and the sound of this album. There's lots of average and generic power metal out there but for me, this one's a great album..........to each his own....

25/100

The only thing better about this CD compared to Vengeance Descending is the production. Songwriting is stale. Dahl couldn't even bother to utilize Heiman's voice properly, and just wrote the worst vocal lines for Heiman. Heiman sounds like he's singing at about 50% of his power, and it's all because he's singing really dull vocal lines.

You can't even mention Crystal Eyes in the same sentence as Lost Horizon, and I'm really dissapointed to see that Heiman would even consider singing for this band before singing for a far more capable songwriter (Lost Horizon). There's only one spot of brilliance on this album, and its about 2/3 of the way through the song "Terror." For a moment I get lost in the beauty of an actual well written vocal line, only to be brought back down by mediocrity at best.

Shame on CE for wasting everyones time. They could've done 110% better, but instead they just used Heiman's name to get a bit of publicity.

I expected it to be boring. and from the few songs I've heard...it is. I won't be buying this one.

Blasphemy... A Flame to the Ground Beneath ist awesome.

Geez Am i the only one that tinks this album is great? Nice stop and go riffs in almost every song and great vocals (of cource). I had no expetations what so ever after reading this.. well its nice with a suprise now and them..