Rockezine`s Winston handed me this promo copy of "Perfect Balance" with the comment: `here`s the new Balance Of Power record. I think you did the previous one as well`. That didn`t ring any bells, and some digging in our archives revealed that it was really Winston himself who had reviewed the previous album.

However, some of the names of the musicians involved did ring a bell or two and it took me a while before I could put my finger on it and remember that Lionel Hicks and Tony Ritchie were both deeply involved with United States Of Mind (USM) and their excellent `Silver Step Child` album.

Anyway, BOP is new to me and certainly it`s no punishment listening to "Perfect Balance". 9 tracks of powerful melodic rock/metal with good vocals and excellent musicianship throughout.

When Tony Ritchie switched to bass after two albums ("When The World Falls Down" and "Book Of Secrets") and singer Lance King took his place in front of the microphone on the third BOP album "Ten More Tales…" This proved to be a great move since "Ten More Tales" got excellent reviews. Much in the vein of that third album, "Perfect Balance" continues exactly where "Ten More Tales…" left off. The music is an accessible form of metal, with extensive use of melody and rhythm changes.

Overall powerful with hints towards Queensryche and Dream Theater and the like. Good example would be "Shelter Me"; a song that has every right to become a classic.

One of the things I noticed is that Balance Of Power have one remarkable talent. No matter how intricate a song is written, however many odd-beat rhythm changes and pretty melodies they stuff into a song, they always break down to an instantly recognizable chorus that comfortably nests in your brain. This, I think, is an interesting approach. Making most of the songs very recognizable like this will greatly help familiarizing listeners with the material. Smart. Very smart.

The second half of the album is somewhat weaker than the first, or maybe I just tire a little after 5 songs, but I would be inclined to name "Higher Than The Sun" and "Shelter Me" as my two favorites, and these are the first two songs on the album. All in all I am inclined to say that this is a very pleasant release. I already enjoyed the somewhat more straight-forward USM album, but this is another nice way to bump into Mr. Hicks and Ritchie again.