Band:	Shadowkeep
Album:	The Hourglass Effect
Style:	Power metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	November 21, 2008
A review by:	Jeff

01. Shadow Keep
02. Incisor
03. Ten Shades Of Black
04. Riot On Earth
05. Six Billion Points Of Light
06. Waiting For The Call
07. As The Hourglass Falls
08. Leviathon Rising
09. Heart Shaped Stone
10. With Force We Come
11. How Many Times (Have We Tried To Save The World)

There are some bands which are not so famous and truly don't deserve it. I'm quite sure that not a lot of people here know Shadowkeep from UK but this is so unfair that I hope that my review will help them a bit to get more recognition. This band rocks and their new album "The Hourglass Effect" is a little jewel of aggressive Power Metal with strong Progressive elements. It's good to listen to such music and I hope that you'll agree with me when you'll put your hand on this CD (because of course, you'll follow my orders and buy it as soon as possible right?).

If you like blasting rhythmic and thrashy riffs, I'm convinced that you'll like a lot "The Hourglass Effect". The album is full of great guitars riffs which cut like a razor but Shadowkeep is also a Progressive band and those songs are all really complex with a lot of different passages and breaks. This is something effective and not really "crazy" like some Prog combo can be but if you like bands like Nevermore I'm certain that "The Hourglass Effect" will have a really positive effect on your ears. I'm not going to say that Shadowkeep music is the most innovative and surprising one but really the guys have great ideas and I like their influences which come (I think so) from bands like Queenrsÿche or Helstar. This nice melting pot of aggressive US Power Metal with 90's Prog works perfectly and I recommend you to try first a real Prog track like "Shadow Keep" and then something a bit more violent like "Waiting For The Call" to understand the music of the band. If you like those songs then you'll like the whole album which doesn't have any letdown.

The production is good and I'm impressed by the performance of the guys too. The singer has a really good voice and we're at the top of the top in term of compositions and musical skill. This is really good because "The Hourglass Effect" is a powerful album which doesn't lack of good melodies and tempo but which is also truly Prog. This release can be a perfect way for the Proghead to listen to something thrashy and for the other ones to discover what good Prog Metal is.

"The Hourglass Effect" is an excellent discovery for me. Believe me this album deserves all your attention, this is intelligent, not redundant and full of great riffs. I hope that Shadowkeep will find a way to tour all around Europe now because I want to see that live and I hope that you'll have this feeling too. "The Hourglass Effect" is a classy release and I promise you that I will keep an eye on this band, Shadowkeep deserves it!