The
Codex marks the return to action for ex Malmsteen/Ring Of Fire
vocalist Mark Boals, a vocalist of deserved acclaim who has
been missing from the rock scene for 3 years. With music written by
guitarist Magnus Karlsson (the mastermind behind Starbreaker
and Allen/Lande) things look good from the start. Throw in
Daniel Flores (Mind’s Eye) on drums and Linus Abrahamson
(bass) and you have a very strong line-up who deliver a solid album
of 12 tracks which cover a wide variety of genres. The main
positive about Boal’s return to action is that he is getting to sing
more inspired melody lines as opposed to the often clichéd lines he
had to sing with Yngwie and to a slightly lesser extent Ring Of Fire
and he is getting to use his voice more creatively.
Opener “Beyond The Dark” possesses a Masterplan-ish vibe
which has a nice contrast of light and shade and is powered along
with
Flores’ ever impressive drum work. Boals vocals are in a lower
register here than during his tenure with Malmsteen and they sound
even stronger for it. “Raise Your Hands” continues the theme
with a more melodic slant which breaks down for a melodic verse with
piano, bass and drums creating the backdrop for Boals to work his
vocals. “Toxic Kiss” (awful title) is up-tempo yet fairly
faceless salvaged somewhat by a strong bridge. “Bring Down The
Moon” sees the quality level rise again for a melodic euro metal
track and it’s a highlight which does make you wonder why the band
have bothered with some of the heavier tracks such as “Running
Out Of Hate”, “Mistress Of Death” and the aforementioned
“Toxic Kiss” as they don’t have the same quality. Yet tracks like
“Dream Makers” (despite its generic chorus of “Dream
makers, soul takers will hunt you down”), “Mystery” (not
a Dio cover) with its sublime verse, “Prisoner” with its
superb soaring chorus and the AOR tinted vibe of “You Can Have It
All” show the band producing quality hard rock that for the most
part has its own identity and sound. The epic prog nature of closer
“Garden
Of
Grief”
sees the album out on a high with a great chorus, strong guitar and
nice keyboard orchestrations on top, not to mention some fine fills
from
Flores.
The Codex is a solid album for what essentially is a project. You
can’t help but feel the album may not have been as solid if it were
not for Boals’ vocals and
Flores’ drums who really are amongst the best in the biz at the
moment. Whilst there is no denying that Karlsson is a very talented
writer (yet a rather faceless lead guitarist in truth) and has
offered up mostly good songs this isn’t the killer album I was
expecting looking at the personnel. There are a lot of fine
performances throughout and time will tell if this album leads to
further works, which I hope it does as there is some superb work
here that serves as a strong foundation, but it is let down by some
slightly better than average tracks. Ultimately I was left with the
feeling that if the album had not had the heavier (and slightly
forced) sounding numbers, and maybe a little more variety in the
good that is on offer it would be a killer album. As it stands it
is a strong release, and a worthwhile purchase to hear Boals
delivering the best vocal performance to date but ultimately its not
as great as I expected it to be.
Rating - 84%
