Band:	Imaginery
Album:	Long Lost Pride
Style:	Power metal
Website:	http://bobkatsionis.tripod.com/imaginery
Release date:	March 25, 2005
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. Hypnotized
02. The Sign Of Today
03. When All is Gone
04. The Nightmare Of Kain
05. Roughly Scratched but Alive
06. Korozon (The Lord Of Evil)
07. Peace Of Mind
08. Blind Eyes
09. Dark Angel [European bonus]
10. In My Life

And one power metal album, one! This review of the new album of the Swedish band Imaginery is addressed only to power metal fans, because if you hate this genre, you won't change your mind with this one. And as today I've decided to be pragmatic, instead of discussing for hours on the supremacy of certain countries over the power metal scene and stuff, let's keep it simple.

1) Why should you buy Long Lost Pride?
Well, you can do that because some songs are not bad at all, just listen to the catchy 'Hypnotized' and 'Peace Of Mind', or even 'Roughly Scratched But Alive', a quite cheesy song that I now can't get out of my head. Also because some riffs, despite their lack of originality, still do the job and promise a few minutes of headbanging. You could buy it because the singer is really excellent. He's got that raspy tone a bit a la Def Leppard that is really agreeable to hear, and he's as easy on fast tempos as on more melodic passages. The guitars are about as talented, and the great number of solos will certainly keep you awake all along the album. You'll probably get it also because you're die-hardest power metal fan and you absolutely want to have every single release of this genre. Or just because you're still a bit sleepy, and you took it for Images And Words (that can happen sometimes). Last reason: you never know, maybe they'll become very popular, and then you'll be able to say you knew them from the beginning.

2) Why should you stay away from it?
Because in my opinion the lyrics are quite dumb. I've read some reviews where they rave on the fact that they are anthropocentric, but that doesn't make them good. In particular, 'Lord Of Evil' is lyrically extremely bad. It's a shame though, since this song is the only one that doesn't sound like the others, and has a kind of interesting dark side. But 90% of the album is like that lyricwise. Besides, the lyrics are not the only stereotypical parts of Long Lost Pride. You can find here everything that has already been done by all the power metal bands that have ever walked the face of this miserable planet, like this typical slow/epic riffing, the very predictable choruses, the 'we are all buddies' choirs, the not-so-necessary-but-let's-put-some-in-everybody-does-it keyboards that often ruin songs that would otherwise have been quite good. I guess you got my point, unfortunately Imaginery has not been able to avoid the most common clichés that make so many people dislike power metal. Ok, I know this genre has its fans, and it's not supposed to leave much space to experimentation, but sometimes you need to stop following the rules and show your own personality. That's the biggest failure of this album.

To sum it all up, only the biggest power metal fans will find some interest to Long Lost Pride. Maybe they'll find something I've not been able to notice. As far as I'm concerned, I'm still wondering if this is a parody of power metal, like Nanowar. I'd like to give a piece of advice to Imaginery: maybe you should dig songs like 'Lord Of Evil', because this one really has something special. And work a bit more on the lyrics. Anyway, this album will remain for centuries on a cobwebbed shelf in the darkest corner of my home. You've been warned.

Highlights: Hypnotized, Peace Of Mind, Lord Of Evil if you do your best to forget the miserable lyrics.