Oh yeah, it’s powermetal time! The third album of this Swiss-made quintet ticks like a clock. Well, okay, maybe not. As always with powermetal bands, this album is filled with melodic riffs, many, many notes per second, multiple-guitar/vocal pieces and so on, and so on. Nothing wrong with it, although to my opinion it lacks a little variety. Of course, this is how it is supposed to sound, but… well, I don’t know, I like to recognise certain songs on a CD, instead of being able to hit the shuffle button and not noticing the difference. Or repeat for that matter. It all just sounds the same a bit too much. To prove me wrong, the additional info puts it this way: “Crystal Ball stands for the melodic side of power metal, led by melodic hymns and catchy tunes. Above all, there are the charismatic vocals of bandleader Mark Sweeney! Almost the whole band contributes to the backing vocals, creating great choirs that perfectly fit the bombastic sound of the five guys”.

.. Is it me or does this quote really contain nothing but bullshit? Why is it that more powermetal bands use this method to appraise their stuff? And what’s with the tone of the text: “..containing great choirs..etc.”? If an album is good, it will sell itself, without the need of such appalling texts, most of which you don’t understand anyway. What a shame, this album does not need it either, but hey, since the record company thought it was necessary, I will read it and draw my own conclusions from there. Better luck next time. But the album really is nice. Not brilliant, but nice. I’ll put it this way: don’t buy the album because I say so, listen to it first, then decide for yourself.