Before I dive head over heels into this review, lets just clarify that Hibria's first two albums were damn awesome, as especially Defying the Rules was a picture perfect example on how to execute power/speed metal properly. The Skull Collectors weren't as fantastic in terms of song-writing, but it sounded much better and displayed a terrific effort all around. Anyway, due to those releases being as good as they are expectations were naturally sky-high prior to the release of their much anticipated third album. Despite the quality of The Skull Collectors one could easily hear that the band got a bit more commercial with that release, and apparently, that formula is taken to new levels on Blind Ride, which results in a brutal nosedive straight into a massive pile of shit. This album isn't crap of the month material, far from it, but what made them powerful and compelling earlier in their career is almost completely abandoned. Insane falsettos, totally ridiculous bass-work, fantastic riffs, and insane melodies as well as guitar-riffs are more or less left back in 2008.

That said, this album kicks off pretty nicely. The title-track which is more of an intro, flows straight into Nonconforming Minds which is a very cool song that shows glimpses of earlier pride. However, even this early, you'll notice that something is off. The riffs aren't as sharp, the vocals isn't anywhere near as intense, but fair enough, this is a solid opener which gets you going. Welcome to the Horror Show is also a pretty damn decent song that, even if it rocks a bit more than it should, the great chorus and melodies will catch every bit of fading attention. On the other hand, the boring snoozefest that ensues is nearly unbearable, and to be honest I had a damn hard time getting past the halfway mark on this album. Songs like Shoot Me Down, Blinded By Faith and The Shelter's on Fire are putting a total and utter lack of creativity on display. The riffs are gutless, extremely boring, and just plain annoying which also goes for Iuri who doesn't exactly sound like the man people hailed as the best vocalist in metal 6-7 years ago.

Think of how Daniel Heiman went from Lost Horizon to Heed, and the enormous disappointment it was to hear Heed for the first time. The disturbing fact though, some of the songs here suck much more male genitalia than Heed ever did, which is just outright sad.

Sadly, there are very few noticeable moments, except maybe Sight of Blindness, after the aforementioned songs, and in all honesty, it's pretty painful to try and listen objectively to six more tunes that just keeps blending together, spewing out crap riff after crap riff, layered with powerless vocals. Hibria obviously lost something essential along the way, and let us just hope this is a single major lapse from them, because if this is the path they're heading down from here, this band is going to dig themselves a hole they'll never get out of. The band that used to sound like Judas Priest on amphetamine now compares to a worn-out, washed-out pair of boxers, filled with holes, and that iffy smell that never really comes out no matter how much detergent you use.

This review might be laden with subjective disappointment, but anyone who heard Defying the Rules back in the day will surely understand where I come from. This is nowhere near the level it should be on, and you'll be best of ignoring it if you're not desperate to complete your Hibria-collection. Avoid