This Japanese quintet revolves around guitar virtuoso Katsu Ohta, who has been hailed for his fierce guitar technique. The Japanese: masters of improving a copied concept, or at least that’s how I picture them. It therefore comes as no surprise that Ark Storm is a complete copy of Ygnwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force during the eighties. Right from the very first classical influenced guitar loops it becomes clear that Katsu Ohta is a big fan of the aforementioned band. So big in fact, that most of Ark Storm’s music seems to be a direct translation. And as such they have managed the copying part; however they’ve failed horribly on the improving part.

My first complaint involves the vocals: Yasuo Sasai has a terrible accent that manages seriously to annoy me. I’d rather have a vocalist sing in his native language than gibberish English. On top of that, he also lacks power and reach and is not even good enough to walk in the footsteps of Jeff Scott Soto.

Furthermore, Ark Storm have even tried to capture the sound of early Yngwie Malmsteen and it just sounds outdated. The production lacks power, and the keyboards drown in the chaotic mix. Sure, it’s better than the nowadays too popular clinical productions, that even make hospitals look dirty but it just subtracts from the quality of the music.

There’s nothing wrong however with Katsu Ohta’s guitar playing. Technical and classical interludes are played at lightning speeds, challenging master Yngwie himself. The songs are also decent but that’s truly no wonder because there’s nothing new in any of them. If you like old school Yngwie Malmsteen and you don’t mind a copy then you might want to check these guys out, otherwise just avoid this redundant piece of metal and save your money for something more original.