This is the 2nd time within the last few weeks that an album has come out of nowhere with no fanfare to blow me away. Not too surprising, I suppose, is the fact that both releases are on the upcoming Italian label Revalve Records. First we had Earthcry's debut album Where the Road Leads with all the special guest vocals to entertain us. This time we have another Italian band called Absolute Priority that has put out an excellent concept album called Hunter. The story loosely centers around an inmate on death row and his confession to a priest. Expect some melodic progressive metal that takes us on a very emotional journey that is often times theatrical in nature, vocals included. It is hard not be reminded of the Queensrÿche albums Operation: Mindcrime and Empire as lead vocalist Valerio Voliani will definitely remind you of Geoff Tate on numerous occasions. Some power metal finds its way onto the album on occasion and we definitely get some symphonic/orchestral/cinematic elements, too. This works very well with Valerio's often times soaring vocals. BTW, some of you may recognize Valerio as being the former lead singer of Icycore and he is also the current singer of the Gothic/doom band Motus Tenebrae that just released its 5th album on, you guessed it, Revalve Records. The songwriting is very strong and there are plenty of hooks to make us want to listen to Hunter over and over. The vocals, harmonies included, soar above the awesome guitar work. There are plenty of nice guitar solos. Being that Absolute Priority is an Italian progressive metal band you can expect lots of stellar keyboard work on Hunter. Massimo Grasso really is exceptional and I enjoy some of the modern keyboard sounds that help separate this album from the works of Queensrÿche I mentioned, earlier. Everything about the album makes me happy. Except: There are a few occasions where, surprisingly, the vocals are just a titch off, and this is troublesome considering the remainder of the album is super. I hear small segments on L.o.s.t., Bloody Tapes, Fear of the Night and Again for instance that aren't quite in tune. Perhaps you won't notice them, but I unfortunately noticed them. I have no choice but to give Hunter a lowish 4.5 star rating, but I will tell you that it is my favorite progressive metal album of 2012. Review by "Butterflyman" (Rate Your Music).
RATING: 8 / 10
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