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Anteater · 12-29-2013, 08:07 PM

3. Queensrÿche - Queensrÿche

Genre: Heavy/Progressive Metal

Sounds Like: Queensrÿche (obviously), Pagan's Mind, Kamelot

Without a doubt the album I looked forward to most in 2013, this lean n' mean musical rebirth of my all time favorite band is 35 minutes of catchy, heavy metal awesome. It's the sort of sonic revolution most decades-old acts are incapable of pulling off...yet here it is, alive and breathing.

To put it mildly, I've always hated the fact that these metal gods faded into near complete irrelevance after the magnificent Promised Land back in 1994. From '97 onwards it was just mediocre album after mediocre album. But good things do seem to come to those who wait: after years of enduring abuse and unwanted creative control, the founding band members gave formally great frontman Geoff Tate the boot back in 2012. Despite being a good thing though, it was a move that made many long-time fans think the band was out of their minds: Tate's voice, even diminished, was QR's calling card to fame in their heyday and a signature element (like Dickinson to Iron Maiden). Sure he was a pretentious controlling fuckwad, but unless you can fill that mic stand with someone truly special, the music will undoubtedly suffer even more than it had previously.

Enter Florida local metal-scene drummer Todd La Torre, a complete unknown who happens to possess a voice that puts him right in the top shelf alongside any of heavy metal's icons, including Dio, Halford and of course Tate whom he replaced. This new self-titled album is La Torre's debut album as a lead singer in a band, and he makes one helluva entrance to say the least. A baritenor who can go from G1 to B5 at the drop of a hat, I can't think of a heavy metal band today who wouldn't give their left nut for someone this good.

Still, this isn't quite your daddy's 'Ryche either. While the overall vibe is right at home in the Operation: Mindcrime - Empire period, there are elements of modern power metal and other little touches here and there that demonstrate a keener pop sensibility that you'd expect from guys 19 years past their last great album, especially on earworms like 'Don't Look Back', 'Fallout' and the smoldering yet oddly moving 'A World Without'.

The issue of which one of the two existing lineups of QR will get to retain the band name (Todd La Torre + founding members or Geoff Tate and his hired band) won't get settled until January, but this meaty little record is a screaming declaration of legitimacy that bodes well for future material by a Tate-less 'Ryche. And hell, it pretty much made my year.