Review by Adam M on May 2, 2017.

Mindmaze has all the right tools to craft a progressive gem. There are nice groovy guitar riffs that tell a story with their sound. There is a thoughtful standpoint that makes this album somewhat similar to Operation: Mindcrime in that respect. The riffing is very catchy, but at the same time thoughtful and progressive, also similar to Queensryche. On top of all that is a vocalist that is a solid female.

The entirety of the musicians come together to perform a pretty spotless collection of tunes. This is music that has a thinking edge to it and is more progressive than the power metal it is typically characterized as. There is a very harmonious aura that makes for the catchiness that is present in power metal, but there is decidedly more intellectual vibe to the recording that takes it to the next level. The opener Fight the Future does a good job setting the tone, but is only one of many highlights to be found here. One develops the mindset to listen to these tracks after a couple of listens and once they catch on the music has the ability to nicely ingrain itself in your brain. If there is a flaw to the music it’s that the songs tend to blend together in a somewhat lifeless fashion and don’t make for the cohesiveness of an Operation: Mindcrime. The songs don’t have the impact of that disc, but take a slight step back in terms of their power on you. There is still an unbelievably large amount of material to like here and you will find yourself addicted to the tracks found here. It’s not the best progressive album ever recorded, but it is a strong one for that genre and progressive metal as well.

The fact that the album defies categorization is one of the biggest compliments I can give it, so make sure to check out Resolve.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10