Astronomica (Astronomica - Crimson Glory)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Astronomica - Crimson Glory
Date:	14/06/08 (10 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Attempts to reclaim the Glory.

Disadvantages: Does it very poorly.

Eight years after the band's third album, Crimson Glory partially reunited and attempted to win back fans with a more committed heavy metal performance than the lacklustre glam of 'Strange and Beautiful.' Unfortunately, they didn't do it very well.

'Astronomica' is certainly an album of good intentions, with its Judas Priest approach, science fiction concepts and bold attempts to change aspects of the band's established sound, most notably the vocals, but it severely lacks in the songwriting department. These songs are overlong, desperate and very dull on the whole.

New singer Wade Black tries his best Rob Halford impersonation, a radical departure from his predecessor Midnight, but neither his croaky orations or high screams sound particularly convincing, and more like an audition for a Priest tribute band. The only song that really succeeds to any extent is the title track, though this seems entirely indebted to bands such as Symphony X that Crimson Glory originally helped to inspire in the first place, while the seemingly epic 'Cydonia' only spends five of its twenty-seven minutes on an actual song, before descending into a ridiculously lengthy section sampling radio contact from alleged UFO sightings.

1. March to Glory
2. War of the Worlds
3. New World Machine
4. Astronomica
5. Edge of Forever
6. Touch the Sun
7. Lucifer's Hammer
8. The Other Side of Midnight
9. Cyber-Christ
10. Cydonia

Summary: Crimson Glory's fourth album (1999).