Band:	Guardians Of Time
Album:	Machines Of Mental Design
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	January 2004
A review by:	Undercraft

01. Logging On
02. Faceless Society
03. The Rise Of Triopticon
04. More Than Man
05. Triopticon
06. Machines Of Mental Design
07. Puppets Of The Mainframe
08. War Within
09. Escaping Time
10. A Secret Revealed
11. Point Of No Return
12. Intervention From Beyond
13. The Journey
14. Torn Apart [Japanese bonus]

Some time ago I reviewed Guardians Of Time debut album, and I was surprised to hear such a good Power Metal band from Norway, country usually associated to the Black Metal scene. Here we are a couple of years later, and Guardians Of Time show us their new offering, "Machines Of Mental Design", a full length concept album, with an elaborated storyline and excellent sci-fi plot.

First the story, shall we? From what understood and read elsewhere (I got the version without booklet) the whole story centers in the main character, Jeanet DeLacroix, and her company, TriOpticon, the main tower of the company, located in Paris in the year 2099 is the centerpiece of the story.
TriOpticon is in charge of a project to create a super being, part machine, part human that would become the savior of the contemporary world.
While in charge of the project, DeLacroix takes advantage of the opportunity to become the aftermentioned super being, and uses the technology to do so.
Seeing this, The Guardians Of Time (the heroes of the story) decide to intervene and stop DeLacroix by all means possible. As they head to the TriOpticon tower in order to destroy it, DeLacroix aware of the Guardians pursuing her, decides to enter the mainframe of the computer system at TriOpticon to achieve her escape?.

The story is very interesting, but the music is what really matters right? Well, I'm glad to inform you all that if you heard Guardians Of Time last album, you'll be pleased to know that things have improved in almost each field here.
First of all, the music is much more aggressive this time, without forgetting those catchy riffs and hooks in every chorus, songs like "Faceless Society" "The Journey" and Escaping Time" will make the delight of every one that likes Power Metal.

The production and looks are top-notch as well, the album cover is very attractive, and much better than the one in their previous album, the production is crystal clear and each instrument sounds very well.
This time around Guardians Of Time took a step further and left their past influences (like Hammerfall) behind, and managed to create a sound of their own, with a compelling story backing it up. If they continue like this, I'm sure we'll hear more often the name Guardians Of Time in the near future.