Reality in Focus

Magnitude 9 is the prototype of your basic progressive power metal band. Take your “standard” progressive metal band such as Dream Theater and add the heavy, catchy riffs and straightforwardness of power metal, while sacrificing none of the technicality and there you go… progressive power metal. While Magnitude 9 sound a lot like other progressive power bands such as Balance of Power, Threshold and Conception, they stand out in one aspect: their guitarist Rob Johnson. He’s a spectacular player –very technical and very capable of writing interesting riffs but it’s how he arranges these riffs that impress me the most.

Take the opener ‘No Turning Back’ for example, which is pretty much representative of the whole album. Basically, the riffs are ALL OVER THE PLACE, and played quite fast too. If you think you got a grasp of the song after the first 30 seconds, you’ve just been deceived… the melodic intro and mesmerizing rhythms only hint of what is to come as the riffs change character constantly. Right out of the blue comes a short solo, or how about that incredibly heavy riff at 2:50? If this song doesn’t intrigue you and shakes your little world, I don’t know what material you’re made of.

Though you’ve already heard the best song the album has to offer, the rest of the material is pretty good as well, with no weak tracks to be found. ‘Mind over Fear’, featuring the heaviest riff on the album, stands out in particular. Other good cuts include: ‘What My Eyes Have Seen’ and ‘Afterlife’. The songwriting comes across as intricate in that typical progressive metal fashion; a regular power metal band would have been satisfied clocking some of the songs out 2 minutes earlier, using half the amount of riffs, but that is clearly not Magnitude 9’s way of doing things.

Reality in Focus has a striking similarity to Labyrinth’s debut. There’s that same spellbinding, “magical” ingredient in oh so many places, but this effort is generally much more well-written with none of the “what the hell were they thinking?!” moments that plagued that album.

The weak link in the band is vocalist Corey Brown. He’s a good singer, no doubt, but his dreamy, sometimes distant vocal delivery just sounds so out of place. The forceful and direct guitar playing would have been better matched by an equally forceful and direct vocalist and Corey is the opposite of that. However, the real reason Reality in Focus doesn’t quite reach the heights I hinted at in the beginning of my review, is that the songwriting is a bit too disjointed in places. For example, songs such as ‘Far beyond Illusion’ and ‘Temple of Gold’ start out promising but really don’t get anywhere. There’s no climax and no sense of disclosure, which is something they need badly!

Nonetheless, Reality in Focus is a fascinating album. It rarely gets dull and sometimes surprises you with some of the most impressive guitar-arrangements you’re likely to come across in the genre. If you like bands such as Balance of Power and Threshold, you should like Magnitude 9 as well.