Review by Jack on January 3, 2002.

Never having heard of Balance Of Power, let alone their brand of music, I entered into my listening experience of “Perfect Balance” with no expectations whatsoever (the same cannot be said for Emperor for example) and was pleasantly excited by what my ears picked up through the speakers. Above all other things what struck me about Balance Of Power and “Perfect Balance” is how addictive and catchy it is. I mean my girlfriend loathes heavy metal and she was having a tough time not singing along to Lance King’s catchy choruses and humming along with the guitar riffs in most of the 9 songs on a “Perfect Balance”.

Balance Of Power bridge a gap between the lines that traditional heavy metal and power metal draw in the sand. Power metal has been scoffed by some selected members of the metal press as being slightly too soft and not ‘hard’ enough for current metal trends (i.e. melodic death metal). Where Balance Of Power bridges the gap is through the intelligent songwriting capabilities of Lance King (vocals), Pete Southern (guitars) and Tony Ritchie (bass), that helps keep each song interesting and develops a strong identity of musicianship on each. Lance King’s vocals do not range into the perhaps ‘wimpy’ range that power metal is signified for nor do the keyboards reach such dizzy heights that they drown out the guitars that power metal is famous for again. These above factors really help Balance Of Power appeal to a wide spectrum of the metal world.

I really can not stress how catchy this stuff is; ‘The Fire Dance’ is so damn good it is unbelievable that no-one recommended to me earlier this band and their latest album earlier. All in all there is nothing really wrong with “Perfect Balance” aside from odd guitar riffs that should have been placed in alternative spots in songs. This metal is killer, and I applaud Balance Of Power for writing such imaginative music, it is clear that they have sweated and toiled over this masterpiece.

Bottom Line: “Perfect Balance” is one of the more exciting and catchy releases this year and I am very glad to have received it in the mail. Balance Of Power write some damn catchy stuff and I really recommend this album to all metal fans.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 8
Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.1 out of 10