POWER THEORY – Out Of The Ashes, Into The Fire

Power Theory is a new electrifying band hailing from near Philadelphia, USA. These guys self-describe themselves as “True Metal”, which is a fairly accurate description, although they don’t fall into a typical genre. Their sound is primarily Power and Thrash based, but there is a good mix of melodic styles combined with a little NWOBHM, and 80’s style German Power Metal.

Their first full-length debut album Out Of The Ashes, Into The Fire is an intense thrill ride from start to finish. Led by vocalist Dave Santini and Bob “BB” Ballinger, the power and fury of this album is infectious and contagious. The rough and edgy style of Santini’s vocals is very reminiscent of Metal Church’s David Wayne or a young Jon Oliva from Savatage. Combined with the powerful riffs produced by Ballinger, the album has a very “classic” feel and sound.

The opening track “Prevaricator” has that signature, classic 80’s Power Metal theme with a great opening riff to start the album, not to mention a great melodic chorus and fiery guitar solo. This song could have easily been on any Iron Maiden or Helloween album of the 80’s. One of the most noticeable things about Out Of The Ashes, Into The Fire is that many tracks contain their own individual influence from a different band. For instance, the song “This Madness Is Mine” is very clearly influenced by early Savatage. “Heart Of Darkness” has a riff straight from the school of Glen Danzig, and “Insane (Metal’s Part Of My Brain)” sounds distinctively like a classic Krokus song.

The biggest surprise of the album is the very tender and emotional “When The Rain Comes Down”. This inspiring ballad definitely showcases the vocal talents of Santini and provides the listener with a new dynamic not evident on the other tracks. It proves that Santini can escalate beyond the traditional raspy and smoky image, and in keeping in line with their individual influences, the melody on this track is suspiciously similar to Primal Fear’s “Hands Of Time”.

Power Theory has an over abundance of charisma and talent. However, the songwriting is certainly lacking in both originality and creativity. Even though there are several bright spots on the album, including a spectacular instrumental guitar track, “Uriel’s Tears” (which once again showcases the great musical gift of Ballinger), the album tends to fall flat in some areas. Hopefully Power Theory can overcome some of these weaknesses, because they are definitely a potential behemoth of Metal just waiting to be unleashed!