THE BEAST

Absolon - A Portrait Of Madness - Reviewed By POWERMETAL ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.powermetal.de/review/review-Absolon/A_Portrait_Of_Madness,39790.html

Pretty obvious "Operation: Mindcrime" knockoff with great moments.

ABSOLON from sunny Florida is the project of singer and guitarist Ken Pike, who together with his wife Ryo has contributed most of the music for the previous albums and EPs. The duo first presented their musical vision on the concept album Darkness Rising: The Tale of Derek Blackheart in 2013, which, however, flew under the radar and was to be followed by a long hiatus. Almost ten years later, however, Ken is back with another concept album, titled "A Portrait Of Madness," which explores the fictional story of Soldier Randolph Bathery in 1920. This time he gets support from his wife and the German guitarist Marc Vanderberg, who refines the thirteen compositions with his playing.

Musically, ABSOLON's recipe is quickly defined, because no matter how much Ken emphasizes that he is inspired by the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and wants to give his music a "European vibe", I listen to "A Portrait Of Madness" by and large a fairly obvious QUEENSRYCHE copy. It even goes so far that Ken largely copies Geoff Tate's vocal style, which makes me listen more closely to see if this isn't one of Tate's side projects. And otherwise, compositions like 'This Is My Dream' or 'Breathe Again' breathe the air of concept works like "Operation: Mindcrime", which seems to be clear to Ken, after all he carries the magnum opus of the Seattle proggers alongside "Nostradamus"

Just the fact that I make these comparisons should make it clear that ABSOLON really has a lot of musical potential despite the obvious lack of originality. This is brought in in particular by Marc Vanderberg, who does an outstanding job on the guitar. From a perfect Michael Wilton imitation, to beautiful melodies and great riffs to tasteful solos, Marc has almost everything in his arsenal and, in my ears, quickly developed into the star of the show, who also composed somewhat bulky and not quite compelling compositions like ' Let Me Be' refined. Ken also cuts a good figure as a frontman, has some great vocal lines and often comes very close to his role model Tate. Nevertheless, the songs lack that certain something for long stretches, that would turn a good track into an excellent one. The somewhat one-dimensional drums and the very synthetic orchestral samples in particular are symptoms of the record's problems, which at no point make you forget that you are dealing here with a long-distance record that is largely based on a "do it yourself" ethos Has.

All in all, I can still recommend "A Portrait Of Madness" to die-hard fans of Geoff Tate, because if you miss the good old QUEENSRYCHE days, you could definitely spend a few nice hours with the record. Personally, however, I'm missing my own touch and in the end also the final touch in the implementation to make the ABSOLON second album an important addition to my collection. - POWERMETAL

Release Date: October 31, 2022

FFO: Queensryche, Judas Priest, Kamelot

Location: Beardstown, Illinois

Short Bio: Absolon is an exciting and dynamic heavy metal band founded by singer/songwriter Ken Pike. Combining NWOBHM and European metal with today's symphonic power metal, Absolon has managed to create a sound all their own, a sound which is new yet will be familiar with the metal community. Absolon has been heralded as a vanguard of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal (NWTHM) and, since hitting the scene, has taken the metal world by storm. Not long after its conception in 2013, Absolon released their debut album;Darkness Rising: A Tale of Derek Blackheart to great fanfare and fantastic reviews here in the USA and abroad. A concept album, Darkness Rising was regularly compared to Queensryche's successful concept album Operation Mindcrime, both in scope and ambition. Fans of Queensryche will definitely hear the similarity, especially in the vocals of Ken Pike, who is a big Queensryche/Geoff Tate fan. On October 31, 2022, Absolon released their long-awaited follow-up to their debut album called; A Portrait of Madness. With an all-new set of players in tow, Absolon has produced yet another intricate concept piece, one which they believe surpasses the debut with stronger songs and an all-around better production.

Support the band on Bandcamp!

Ken Pike-vocals-USA
Marc Vanderberg-guitar/bass-Germany
Ryo Pike-keys/piano/synth/orchestration-USA

All songs and lyrics written by Ken Pike except for 1916, music by Ryo
Pike/melody and lyrics by Ken Pike
Into the Darkness/Out of the Darkness/The Demon Waltz/Drive You Out
composed by Ryo Pike
It Is Done composed by Marc Vanderberg
Recorded at Dark Skys Studio, Illinois
Guitars and bass recorded by Marc Vanderberg in Germany
Mixed/mastered by Thorsten Eligehausen at darkSIGNS Records-Germany
All rights reserved 2022 Dead Alien Entertainment

Follow the band at these links:

https://www.facebook.com/absolonrocks/
riotduk.wixsite.com/absolonrocks (official website)
absolon.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/absolonmetal/
epkbuilder.com/epks/absolon (EPK)