Lance King
ReProgram

I believe that Lance King is a relatively well-known name in the metal/rock genres, especially the progressive one. We heard him on some unremarkable albums by Pyramaze, the Danes clearly improved when he was out of the picture. He is also heard with Balance of Power and before this solo effort he has released one album under his own name, it was released in 2011. So this second solo effort by King might be something quite anticipated, but the artwork isn’t the most brilliant I have ever seen so it may not really an album I will go for as I think a good artwork is important but if it is good it may be a valid purchase anyway.

Progressive metal/rock is what it is, it reminds me of big names of the genres like Dream Theater, or Pyramaze, bands like Pagan’s Mind or those are also pretty good to use for comparison. The vocals are pretty good, King does sing rather well. The production is good and the variation is pretty strong with fairly sensible playing time and a decent depth. A good show of musical craftsmanship, but I am not so sure about the creative abilities as it feels like King is borrowing stuff from others and not really coming up with anything of this own. But he does what he does well and the music is not overly complex and has a good and catchy feel to it.

It is a very good album with strong and catchy, relatively memorable songs. It also has a strong depth and good variation that makes it easy to play through and find tracks that you really like, as title track ReProgram, Technology and Limitless to name a few of the more standouty tracks on this album. The weakness is the lack of fresh ideas but the craftsmanship is pretty good so it makes up for quite a lot of it. And I have to say that a high rating is justified for an album as good as this one, sure I miss some fresh thinking and novelty but you can go quite far by writing good songs even though the they sound like you have stolen them from others.

ReProgram will probably not reprogram the progressive metal genre or anything like that but it will appeal to those who enjoy the genre. It is a strong album with good tracks that I have enjoyed listening to and I find it quite likely that it is the best album that I have heard where King plays a major role. It may not be the most novel or fresh one that I have heard but it is a good album – I recommend that you check it out, especially if you like the progressive stuff. A postivie surprise!

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