You know that feeling you get when you are listening to an album and you wish you could enjoy more than you actually do? When you can tell that a lot of effort went into a record to give it some legs to stand on, but in reality it just doesn’t hold up? That is pretty much the story with The Third Cage. A hard rock album with some metal trimmings here and there, the overall feel upon listening is a resounding “meh”. Dario Mollo and Tony Martin (he of former Black Sabbath vocalist fame) certainly have some good moments here, but on the whole there is just too much monotony and lack of interesting hooks to keep the audience pinned down for a full listen.

The opening track Wicked World is by far the highlight of the album, which is both a blessing and a curse. The good is that it starts things off with a swift kick in the ass, featuring a driving riff and the best lyrical content on the album. Tony brings the heat with his sarcastic snarling as he decries the hypocrisy and bullshit of the world, and basically says let them rot in a vicious chorus. The other side of the coin is that from here on out the album drops off like a rock in free fall, progressively getting less and less interesting. Cirque Du Freak tries to be another rocker, but the use of cheesy effects and a clichéd chorus drag it down into mediocrity. Oh My Soul is decent enough for a quasi-ballad, and also features some sharp lead work, but is a chore to sit through fully. One of the Few is just a bad song all around, not because it is a love song but because it is a bad love song. Still in Love With You sets the bar a bit higher with a middle eastern flare, and once again displays some fine lead work. It in turn is followed by another clunker in Can’t Stay Here. This pattern pretty much repeats up until the second best tune on the album, Blind Fury, which is a damn good tune and leaves me wondering why the rest of the album pales so much in comparison because obviously the talent and will to make a kick ass album is there. Then as if to cement my point, the album closes on the bland Violent Moon and my decision is made for me.

Sometimes no matter how hard you try (and I have been trying for weeks now) an album just does not do it for you, and that is the case here. The Third Cage reeks of hard rock potential (or even metal potential if they wanted to focus more on that side of the house) that just did not come to fruition. Two or three worthy songs to be found here, but that a good album does not make.