Album Review: Queensryche - The Verdict

After many years in the proverbial wilderness, the new lease of life afforded veteran prog-metallers Queensrÿche of late is evidence that sometimes a little turbulence is what’s needed to shake a band out of a creative funk. Or in this case, reconnect them with their roots.

Three albums into his tenure, frontman Todd La Torre (who also ably played drums here) is well-entrenched. This LP channels the essence of the band's '80s/early-'90s glory years – La Torre's impenetrable voice and dead-on copy of previous singer Geoff Tate circa that time period certainly helps. Highly melodic Propaganda Fashion is one of several tracks that hearken back to their mid-to-late '80s heyday; ditto the riffage on Man The Machine.

That ultimately means there's few surprises. But while for dedicated fans this will be a nostalgia trip worth taking, there's sufficient vitality to not render the songs mere retreads of past glories. Dark Reverie, for instance, is another strong addition to their canon of moody, pseudo-power ballads and a clear standout. Light-years boasts an instantly memorable chorus that could hardly be the work of any other band. Lyrically, Blood Of The Levant tackles the Syrian war. For a band who took Reagan-era America to task on 1988's Operation: Mindcrime, it's a welcome prospect that their subject matter still has purpose.

To expect Queensrÿche to reinvent themselves at this point would be churlish – the band has already blazed their trail. The Verdict seems unlikely to win many fresh converts to the cause but should satisfy those already loyal to it.