Band Site: www.meyvn.net

After reviewing Meyvn's last demo, a lot of things have happened in the Meyvn camp. First it is worth noting that this CD has landed them a record deal with Killzone records which is currently remixing some of the songs on the CD. So this is officially the last indie CD for the band at this time. Congratulations are definitely in order!

Overall Meyvn continues in the progressive metal path. The most notable improvement between this CD and the previous release is that Liao's bass parts seem to work better with the arrangements. He takes some chances and plays out of pocket which pays off. Drums (Brad Olson) sound much better on this CD as well due to a more polished production. Rick Clark (vocals) is as always in top form and the guitar duo of Drew Creel and Jon Simpson slays.The keyboard work is a bit of a hit and miss for me and the arrangements sometimes seem a bit forced but on the overall I feel that this CD follows a natural progression toward better things for the Austin band.

Songs that really struck home due to the catchy vocal hooks are #1 "Answer Me" and #3 "Arise". The problem with the prog. metal genre is that there is quite a lot of instrumentation and on a full lenght CD it seems to get a bit repetitive, i.e. I can take small doses of guitar virtuosity before it all starts to blend in and become the same. On the overall Meyvn has managed to keep it interesting enough for uninitiated prog. metallers to enjoy while they provide instrument mastery for the die hard fans of this genre.

Reviewed by A. Dorian