Much was made of Tony Taylor’s defection and the subsequent recruitment of current singer Johnny Aune (and not in a positive way!), as Taylor was the lone voice on the Twisteds’ recorded repertoire. However, over the course of five years of live shows (I personally saw Aune’s 3rd show with the band, then a few more, in 2010), the man and band found a suitable homage to traditional, high pitched metal stylings: shorter (only two crack five minutes), more straight ahead and melodic songs, yet still built around Scott Waldrop’s talented guitar showcases. Case in point ‘The Stone’, a wild, undulating six-string workout.

Motors rev from the opening ‘Mystera’ through all eight tracks, to the 8:06 closing ‘Beyond The Gates’. Not a ballad in the bunch! The catchy, almost simplistic guitar introduced ‘Snow Leopard’ has been in the set the last couple of years and if you’ve witnessed it live, it’s indicative of the remainder here. The title track has a little bit of Holy Grail in the mix: old school, yet infectious. ‘The Only Way’ is a energetic sing-along, dotted by Waldrop’s magic fingers. Only complaint is that since ’07 they could only come up with eight songs? Been a long time since I’ve been this "jazzed" about a new album from an established artist. Highly recommended!