After the very heavy opener “Rise From The Fall”, I realize that after reviewing more than one power metal release in the last couple of days I’m getting a little bit fed up with power metal. “Rise From The Fall” sounds as so many power metal songs, rather dull.

The surprise after listening to the second track on the album, the balled “Heaven” (the most horrible title for a ballad), fades quickly, an awful song. The contrast between the first two tracks is like day and night and is characteristic for the entire album. One gets the idea of listening to a compilation album. At times it’s hard to imagine that these songs were written by one and the same person.

The negative side to of this all is that you never ever get the idea that you’re listening to a real album, but more a collection of songs (the fact that all songs are shortened between 20 and 30 seconds by the record company doesn’t help eighter). The positive side is that despite the poor quality of the songs, there are a few that escape the mediocrity. “Live For The Sacred” is such a track, one of the few where melody and passion actually touch you inside. The conclusion is rather simple, “Chained” is a strange collection of mediocre songs with one or two minor high lights.