Review by Tobias on December 31, 2001.

When I was handed Magnitude 9, I thought that once again I’d have to yet again sit through damn near an hour of nauseating fairy metal. But once I got past the excessively long opening track that sounded like nothing more than a Dream Theater clone, to my surprise, the music started to pick up.

The great thing about Magnitude 9 that bands like Narnia or Sonata Arctica are lacking is the darker, perhaps even sinister, tone that was originally brought to the progressive metal scene with bands like Queensryche.

This band is really the brainchild of metal instrumentalist Rob Johnson. While some of the soloing might come off as purely masturbatory, the man’s deft hand is certainly not to be overlooked. The talent oozes off of Rob’s fingers like some sort of mutant offspring resulting from Yngwie Malmsteen and Eric Johnson holding an all-star guitarist butt-romp.

Frontman Corey Brown (Psycho Drama) delivers a solid performance within the strict and often innately annoying confines of power metal vocals, but he also pushes the envelope a little further than expected. Some of the varying vocals on tracks like Into the Sun or Secrets Within really save this album from the din of power-metal mediocrity.

Bottom Line: Taught progressive/power metal that could grow into a mean beast with a steady diet of Operation: Mindcrime.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 6
Overall: 6

Rating: 7.2 of 10