O' Italy; how thee have delighted my ears lately, with a veritable slew of excellent melodic Metal; a brand of music they are well-known for, in the vein of ELVENKING and RHAPSODY OF FIRE; Power Metal, and everything about it that may be progressive or symphonic, has always had a special place in my heart. Italy's DRAGONHAMMER belt out a seemingly typical brand of Power Metal, that is nevertheless littered with progressive flourishes, and contains symphonic atmospherics and interludes. The first song, "The End Of The World", begins as such; an epic and melodic power metal track not too dissimilar to STRATOVARIUS, and showcases Max's impressive vocal range; in the chorus, I am hearing striking vocal similarities to that of ELVENKING, and also some equally impressive lead guitar and keyboard work. "The X Experiment" takes on a most-welcomed progressive vibe. A powerful and aggressive, yet slow-tempo opening riff makes way for a thoroughly heavy track overlaid with strong CHILDREN OF BODOM-like keyboard melodies; riff wise speaking, much of the song is a pounding gallop. Halfway through I was immediately struck by a highly DREAM THEATER-esque series of flourishes. The album drives forward in a much heavier direction in "Escape" that begins deceptively thrashy, but one is soon enough greeted by rather avant-garde-sounding keyboard that gradually pads out the song to a mellow, mid-tempo Soft Rock passage. Soon enough, Max's wails give way to something far more metallic, and the lays down a much more bombastic series of riffs following a return to the previous motif. Quite possibly one of the most 'progressive-sounding' track on the album is "The Others", which strives to keep a relatively upbeat and unmistakably heavy atmosphere and deals with, admittedly, cliché topics, but the lyrics are nonetheless honest and hit home. Here I also find some of the more beautiful melodies contained within the record, especially in the keyboard sections. Lastly, the last track on the record is also my favorite; "Last Solution" begins with an infectiously groovy and catchy riff that is soon backed by a strange keyboard recording. Among the guitars and vocals, the chord progres