Completely fitting with the Euro-Metal scene to the bone and offering a driving and solid album, Time Machine comes forth with their latest stance twelve years into their career. Yes, the sound is in relation to the greats such as Malmsteen, early-Stratovarius, maybe some later-period Sabbath here and there, no doubt about that, but Reviviscence tends to lean against the stronger power metal these days, going beyond the weakness clone factor, putting a dark and gloomy, doom ridden emotion into their songwriting.

Darkness is a keyword here, lots of dark emotional tracks ensue here such as "Angel Lucifer," the Headless Cross-era Sabbath-esque "Tears of Jerusalem," complete with sitar and sub-flamenco acoustic guitar, the dark gloomy "Grains of Sand," the Dream Theater-ish "The Calling," as well as the title track are examples of some of the overtones that provide the thick mood involved with the record. There are straight ahead power-metal cuts such as "Rotten Soul" and "Revelation" complete with the double bass we all know and love so much.

The production on the record is filled with the backdrop of synthesizer pads and occasional Taurus pedals, along with heavy, but yet diversified drumming. Guitarists Gianluca Ferro and Gianluca Galli (that must be fun, having two guitarists in the band with the same name), attempt to emulate the Yngwie shred occasionally, proving that they have the right idea, for axeworks sake, and I will leave it at that. The mix tends to be a bit dense, but has analog warmth to it.

Reviviscence throughout is one solid release, with the lyrical content complimenting the sound of the record, speaking of right versus wrong, good versus evil, and the perils of those struggles fucking up society with the greed and corruption that creates wars, unemployment, and uncertainty, exposed in the manner that only Time Machine could.

Written by Hashman
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
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Ratings

Hashman: 7.5/10

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