Sweden's Seventh One have returned with the follow-up to their very successful debut album Sacrifice, released in 2002. That album made quite an impact and was well received by both the fans and music press. Facing the ever so stressful "sophmore jinx" that most new bands face after releasing a successful debut album, they present us here with their second album What Should Not Be. The production woes that plagued some of their first album have been rectified and this time, the band has opted for a more melodic approach at least vocally, all the while still retaining all the heaviness and power metal styles of their debut.

The bulk of this album fits into the power metal category but the speediness is kept to a minimum in favor of a more powerful metal sound with lots of traditional elements of classic heavy metal. The first two tracks, Eyes Of A Nation and How Many Years use a variety of power metal styles ranging from great uptempo riffs to slower, plodding and heavy atmospheric metal. The layered vocals used on many of the tracks give most songs a classic 80's era Dokken sound. Things really get going in a big way with the next two tracks Mercenaries Call and Ancient Oath. Mercenaries Call has a great classic Queensryche feel with the guitar riffs and leads whereas Ancient Oath contains a healthy dose of speedy U.S. style power metal in the Firewind, Jag Panzer vein. The vocal melodies are fantastic and the Dokken-flavored choruses round out two all-round very solid tracks. Another stand out track is Awaken Visions. With a nice melodic guitar intro, it's a power ballad style song that has a catchy chorus and some very solid and expressive lead guitar.

There's definitely a higher incidence of slower and heavier tracks on this album over the debut with Gallow's Pole and When Infinity Ends being prime examples. When Infinity Ends shows Iced Earth influences with the heaviness of the guitars and the leads are outstanding. The title track, What Should Not Be gets back to the power and speed of their debut and it comes off sounding very similar to Dokken's Tooth And Nail as far as the speedy pace and guitar riffs but with great hammering double bass drumming. The riffing is awesome and we are treated with some speedy and technical guitar/bass battles mid-song. The albums closes with Shattered Glass which, after a quiet beginning, gets heavier with some great building lead guitar.

Overall, the sound of Seventh One is as good as ever and the production is certainly better than the debut. There's lot to like here with as far as great riffs, solid technical but very expressive lead guitar and killer, tight drumming. Rhino Fredh has a great, strong voice that is perfect for this type of melodic and heavy power metal it's just that there's a few tracks that just don't click vocally. The music is great throughout the entire album but the shortcomings with the vocal melodies and weak choruses on several tracks plagues what would otherwise be an outstanding album. Truthfully, I was a bit disappointed upon the first listen to this album, being very impressed with their first album. After several listens however, there's a few tracks that began to stand out but there's also a few mediocre ones as well. It all comes down to personal taste as I've read both glowing and unfavorable reviews about this one. It's still a good album but I was hoping for a little better effort from these guys.