After the Fire

PHARAOH is an underground Power Metal band that unleashes their sophomore effort. This band may unfamiliar to most, but they have an awesome front man. Tim Aymar wowed the fans in Chuck Schuldiner's side band CONTROL DENIED. The only difference here is that unlike CONTROL, PHARAOH is more traditional and straight up Power Metal and not technical like the latter.

Their roots are clearly embedded in 80's U.S. traditional Metal along with the likes of MAIDEN which can be heard on the title track. This is not German sounding Metal by any stretch. This is original with a front man who can sing and not scream like a girl with the high pitch voices that so many bands have been doing as of late making their bands sound weak. Talent runs rampant with each musician in the band.

The acoustic guitar work that opens "Flash Of The Dark" is breathtaking before taking off into melodic riff heaven. "Flash" is reminiscent to MAIDEN'S "Aces High" during the choruses, but still have enough power and originality to stand on their own two feet. PHARAOH is a band that doesn't sound dated.

They take the genre into the 21st century with a fresh sound while keeping their roots grounded soundly in their music. Those looking to hear Power Metal with a fresh approach to song writing should hunt high and low for this release.