Heathen machine --- Balance of Power --- 2003 (Massacre)
Over a career spanning nineteen years, though only ten of those active, and no less than four different vocalists over the course of five albums, Balance of Power take the phrase "fluid lineup" to new levels. Mind you, the thing is, whichever singer they've had has sounded great on the album he worked on. Tony Ritchie was powerful on their debut, Lance King impressed me on "Perfect balance", and here we have their latest, other than a compilation, on which Biomechanical's John K makes his one and only appearance before returning to his parent band. From the length of the hiatus between this album, the compilation "Heathenology", which was released in 2005, and any chance of any future project it would seem that Balance of Power are dead as a band: eight years is a lot to expect from any band. But they still appear to be active, still gigging as of 2007, though when you check their official website, that dreaded DNS error comes up.
So, are they dead? Perhaps they are. They were initially due to release a new album in 2006, but though they engaged yet another vocalist for this album, Corey Brown has yet to sing on any Balance of Power album, though he has played with them live. You'd have to say that as a going concern they are unlikely to come back now, though I guess there is always hope. But if this stands as their last collection of original material, is it the swansong the band deserve, and that the fans can remember them by?
There's a soft keyboard intro to "The rising", and the voice of new boy John K makes its mark right away, rippling piano and synth from Leon Lawson painting the backdrop to the opener before the title track kicks in, and it's clear that "The rising" is just a short intro really to the main event. Drums and powerful keyboards mesh with hard guitar as the whole thing picks up and gets decidedly metal. Pete Southern's guitars really add bite to the song while Lionel Hicks drives the thing along on the rails of his steamhammer drumming. I've always found it a little odd that the founder and original vocalist has dropped to mere (!) bass player now, but Tony Ritchie is still an important part of the songwriting process for Balance of Power, writing every track either in collaboration or solo, other than the opener, which oddly enough given that it has no percussion, is penned by Hicks. I guess a band must be quite comfortable in their collective skin to allow such a change take place and not seem to have any feelings of animosity about it.
The title track is a long affair, six and a half minutes, but not close to the longest on the album, and it certainly showcases John K's phenomenal vocal abilities, which help continue the great tradition of powerful, accomplished vocalists that have passed through this band. The title track ends almost with a reprise of the opener, and slips into "I wish you were here", another hard rocker that starts off with curiously new wave synth before Southern's guitars pound through, hammering at the song along with Hicks and it's a full minute before John K comes in on the vocal, with a more relaxed, gentler style than he has hitherto shown. This doesn't last of course, and as the guitars ramp up and synth fills fly left right and centre so too does John K's vocal rise and become more intense. It gets a little AOR at times, mostly in the keyboard runs, but not so much that the heaviness of the song is lost.
There's a low, sort of understated start to "Chemical imbalance", but don't let that fool you, as it quickly comes to life on the back of a powerful keyboard line and thundering percussion, and John K takes centre stage as everything drops away to just bass backing then the guitars and drums power back in, and the song has one of those great hooks that those who know this band will recognise. It's a powerful, rocking stomper and a good hard progressive metal track, the grinding guitars of Pete Southern cutting a swathe through the wall of keyboards provided by Leon Lawson, and he lets rip with a fine solo as the song reaches its climax, taking us into a gentle piano run that opens "No place like home" accompanied by strings-like synth. Some choral vocals carry the song into its first minute before once again Southern nods to Hicks and the two of them kick the track up the arse, ramping it up into another hard rock cruncher. Again it has a really cool little hook, something of a trademark of Balance of Power and makes you wonder why they're not better known. Perhaps it's that they're too heavy to be properly commercial, and too commercial, at times, to be considered a proper heavy metal band? Who knows, but there are some great tracks on this, as all their albums.
The tempo doesn't really slow down here at all, and though "The eyes of the world" again has its AOR moments it's another song any heavy metal fan would be proud to hear, and maybe, just maybe, make them wonder where this band has been all their life? Very dramatic, insistent keyboard backs this track but it's mostly driven on Southern's aggressive guitar work. But at some point we have to have a ballad, and though it's a power one it comes in the form of "Just before you leave", led by Lawson's smooth piano melodies and punchy guitar from Southern, with John K giving it all he's got and putting every ounce of passion and emotion into his voice that's possible. This is the one and only song he's involved in the writing of, collaborating with Ritchie and Southern, and it leads into the longest track on the album, the almost eight and a half minute "Wake up call", opening on a dark, doomy synth passage before exploding into a thundering rocker that tests John K's vocal prowess to the limit. Great galloping percussion from Hicks, and very impressive vocal harmonies which again sort of tread in a far heavier form of AOR territory. Very dramatic guitar from Southern which gets quite introspective about halfway through then fires back up full tilt taking him into a superb little solo while Leon Lawson's keyboards trumpet and blare all over the place.
The song though peters out and sort of dies away on a lonely guitar line and John K's pained vocal as we head into the closer, "Necessary evil", with a lilting, lively piano opening, Southern's barking guitars snarling their way all over the music before a few seconds has passed and after that it goes pell-mell, head-down for broke as Lawson's eastern-tinged keyboards add into the mix. There's a real marching, swaggering Dio feel about this track, with John K almost emulating the late legend himself at times. It's probably the most intense vocal from the singer on the album, and given that it will be his last contribution to Balance of Power he seems to give it his all. The lyric I find a little unimaginative and quite repetitive, but the level of musicianship on show pushes that to one side really, and it's as strong a closer as you're likely to get from this band. Best song to possibly end their catalogue? No, I could think of better, but it doesn't leave a bad taste in the mouth, just could have been better I feel.
TRACKLISTING
1. The rising
2. Heathen machine
3. I wish you were here
4. Chemical imbalance
5. No place like home
6. The eyes of the world
7. Just before you leave
8. Wake up call
9. Necessary evil
After singing on this album, John K returned to his band Biochemical, concerned that he was spreading himself too thin. In 2005 a compilation called "Heathenology" was released, a combination of a greatest hits and live material; a three-disc set, one of which was a DVD of the band live in 2004. You can't really fault them for their efforts in endeavouring to encapsulate their career to date, with this album containing remastered tracks from each of their previous four albums as well as the concert footage. But perhaps there was also a subtle message hidden in such a package: this is us, enjoy it cos we're done. This may not have been the intention of course, but to date no new material has been forthcoming, and the hoped-for sixth album "Whispers in the hurricane" has never seen the light of day. All members of Balance of Power are now doing their own thing.
It's a sad loss to the world of progressive metal if we hear no more from this talented bunch, but with the best will in the world and with even almost unshakable faith it's hard to see how there could be any new material on the horizon. Why this is so I have no idea; not too much is known about the band and as I said at the beginning, their own website is down, defunct or gone. Maybe these albums are all we have to remember them by. Still, at least we have that.