Screaming, powerful vocals and soaring guitar leads with a tight rhythm section characterise the latest release by Hades, which comes after a ten-year hiatus. The lyrics are highly pretentious and ambitious, the primary themes of which are attacks on the American welfare system and organised religion. The production is great, as is the mix, though I would've liked to hear a lot more of the screaming operatic vocals done so well Alan Tecchio. Favourite tracks include the title track, In the Words of the Profit, Y2K (bombastic lyrics, but the music has a great mix of death-metal style growling and operatic screaming), and End of the Bargain (great screaming à la Queensryche).
Comparison to Queensryche is inevitable, but the music is less progressive and traditional metal sounding than the sort Queensryche make. The vocals remind me of Geoff Tate once in a while. The problem, as I say above, is consistency. The thing about Queensryche is that they're driven by vocals just as much as the music (the vocals are melodic, harmonic, and continuous). Hades have not found the right balance between the music and vocals---yet. But this is a release that won't disappoint: this is metal at its traditional best.