Following up a monster debut album is always a difficult thing to do and Leverage certainly had a daunting task in front of them due to the success of their incredibly impressive first album, Tides. The band has wisely stuck to the same winning formula, with great choruses, superb melodic riffs, a very good production, all topped off by the awesome vocal talents of Pekka Heino. If anything, the keyboards seem more prevalent on this release than before, drifting the band very close to prog rock on several occasions. 

Things kick off with “Shadow In The Rain”, one of the very best tracks on offer and Heino seems to have improved his vocals to an astonishing level. His contribution to this album simply cannot be over estimated. “King Of The Night” is another decent track with an up-tempo feel about it and trademark razor-sharp guitar work from Tuomas Heikkinen. “Stormchild” is a typical Leverage song, building from an inauspicious keyboard intro before bursting into life and then completed with Heino’s unique vocals providing the icing on the cake. 

“Sentenced” is a brooding classic, showing off the more “metal” side of the band, in terms of its heaviness which kicks in after yet more impressive vocals. “Hellhorn” belongs in an epic setting such as a Lord Of The Rings film. An infectious and catchy chorus is the highlight of “Mister Universe”, before the tempo is slowed for “Don’t Touch The Sun”, which builds in intensity and power throughout. 

The pace quickens once more for “Run Down The Hill”, which I think would translate superbly live with its powerhouse drum rhythm and soaring guitar work. “Heart Of Darkness” is another track which builds from slow beginnings before exploding into something far more bombastic. It’s very much a case of saving the best until last however as closing track “Learn To Live” is the highlight of the album. This track redefines the term “power ballad” , basically it’s a slow track, seething with intensity and emotion, with a stunning vocal performance. When it bursts into the chorus, we get a classy, heavy and powerful track which is as good as any song of its type I can recall. 

So Leverage have produced another fine slab of melodic metal which fans of the debut will undoubtedly embrace, although it doesn’t quite match up to the very highest peaks attained by its predecessor, due to the fact that they just do not have the totally killer standout tracks on this album that graced the debut. Having said that, it’s still a very good album and will appear in many people’s end of year Top 10 listings I would imagine.

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Track Listing

Shadow In The Rain
King Of The Night
Stormchild
Sentenced
Hellhorn
Mister Universe
Don’t Touch The Sun
Run Down The Hill
Heart Of Darkness
Learn To Live

Line Up

Pekka Heino - Vocals
Tuomas Heikkinen - Guitars
Torsti Spoof - Guitars
Pekka Lampinen - Bass
Valtteri Revonkorpi - Drums
Marko Niskala - Keyboards