9 song debut (plus a trio of short instrumentals) from a new Finnish prog outfit that melds the best of Kansas and Symphony X: keyboard prominence with strong vocals (check out ‘Guardian’). A concept album, based on R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy. ‘Repression’ is an acoustic tinged 2:12 instrumental, while the similarly voiceless ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Scent Of Dawn’ are rock and symphonic, respectively.

Although the prog masterpiece ‘Controversial Euphoria’ ends with a 100-second grand piano solo. ‘Haven Of Grace’ reminds me of the X-men’s ‘King Of Terrors’. In the final minute of ‘Dark Divided Minds’, Simo Silvan adopts a Graham Bonnet (circa Alcatrazz) intonation. Back to soaring highs on ‘Promised Land’, before finishing off with the nearly 14 minute ‘Chains Of The Past’, which samples a little of everything that’s come before. An interesting introduction.