Wow! The ten songs from the Dutch (former?) prog-metallers will surprise most. Striped of the wanton excess which typically bogs down so-called progressive music, the new Elegy can be described as 'powerful,' 'lively,' 'bombastic' and 'aggressive, yet melodic,' words infrequently used in prog circles, but the band no longer belongs solely to that realm. Much of the credit is due Ian Parry, the vocalist/songwriter who picked up the slack when legendary founder Henk Van der Laars packed it in. Parry, a veteran of collaborations with Aryeon and Kamelot, outside his star-studded Consortium Project line-up, has kept the essence of Elegy, but brought the band screaming into the new millennium. French guitar virtuoso, Patrick Rondat, also a Consortium alum, more than aptly fills Laars' vacancy. A Malmsteen-styled shredder, Rondat makes the fretboard explosions tasteful, while equally adroit on acoustic guitar. The quick double bass drums opening 'Icehouse' signal the rejuvenated spirit right away, but it's the Stratovarius/Rhapsody speedster of a follow-up 'Force Majeure', that symbolizes the new sound. Nor is it the only such rapid fire number: witness the classically introduced 'Killing Time' and the exquisite work of Rondat on 'Behind The Tears_ Fact of the matter, there is more uptempo material than not. Of the rest, the ballad, 'Til Eternity', an ode to searching for love throughout the ages, thanks to reincarnation, works to counterbalance the metallic movement, while the experimental title track closes the disc. There will be at least three different formats worldwide, a plain ten track version, the digi-pak, which will contain a remastered 'Sweet Revenge', the former Japan-only bonus from State Of Mind, as well as a pair of acoustic tracks recorded at JVC studio, in Japan. Speaking of the Land Of The Rising Yen, they get all four JVC acoustic songs, plus 'Eloquence', recorded during the Forbidden Fruit session.