After spinning Eternal Legacy’s debut, The Coming of the Tempest, you’d probably guess they’re big fans of Yngwie Malmsteen. But in fact, none of them were born back in the glory days of hair spray and solos, so it’s just a coincidence that Shaun Vanek — rightly credited as “lead murder axe” — shreds like the mad Swede himself, and singer Jason Vanek wails like Rising Force/Journey singer Jeff Scott Soto. Their progressive power metal, meanwhile, is more influenced by Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius.

There’s nothing wrong with the disc that isn’t wrong with the rest of the genre. Ornate, piano-esque keyboards may or may not have a place in metal, and you can argue all day about whether songs like “Rise of the Daemon” are a little too melodic. But there’s no debating the guitar work of Vanek and rhythm specialist Spencer Phillips. And whether your primary metal reference is Avenged Sevenfold or Maiden, you haven’t heard a shredfest like “Cyberplague” in years — if ever.

This article appears in May 30 – Jun 5, 2007.