Fires Of Babylon - Fires Of Babylon (CD)

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FIRES OF BABYLON is a band or a project, I wonder? Anyway, consisting of credited musicians - all of them - I would see an option of releasing another album in the near future, since Fires Of Babylon is a notable CD, but…who really knows what tomorrow brings?
The musicians: Lou St. Paul comes from WINTER'S BANE. An initial collaborator of Yngwie Malmsteen/ex-ICED EARTH/ex-JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim Owens, Lou's been participating in all three (so far) releases of this Ohio-based band. Rob Rock, one of the most underrated Rock/Metal vocalists - in my poor opinion - has a CV full of participations, apart from his solo works; I just mention IMPELLITTERI, M.A.R.S., Axel Rudi Pell, WARRIOR and JOSHUA. Kelly Conlon arrives from a kinda different style 'pathway', having in prior contributed to DEATH's Symbolic album plus in MONSTROSITY's three CDs in the 90s. Last but not least, Rober Falzano cut his teeth with ANNIHILATOR and SHATTER MESSIAH (featuring NEVERMORE/ANNIHILATOR axeman Curran Murphy). Not bad for a startup, right? And, also, no objection regarding the skills and arrangements, OK?
The music: Fires Of Babylon's songlist brought three different pieces of thought to mind. Rob Rock's voice is 'Rob Rock', hence fans of his personal works will enjoy full approval. His harsh yet melodic yet high-pitched throat shall leave no room for protest. On the other hand, the WINTER'S BANE 'ghost' is allover the album, with Lou St. Paul providing some impressive guitar riffs/themes/leads the American way. Do not imagine something that old-school; we're primarily talkin' 'bout the post-mid-80s blend in Metal music in America, with semi-complex compositions and a variety in 'colors' of reference (JACOBS DREAM and KAMELOT was also brought to mind, the last in 'oriental' parts). Third thing is, and quite out of the blue, I observed some similarities to the kind of Metal music some European bands do display the last years. Think of MYSTIC PROPHECY, BRAINSTORM or (a little bit of) FALCONER or BLOODBOUND.
Technical data: the sound is semi-'retro', with - on the other hand - enough freshness in the drums/rhythm guitars' sound. There's volume and tension, providing the overall result with an impression that it surely refers to a Metal album.
A nice album; I do not swear it's going to be a frequent visitor in your CD player but that will be your choice, since Fires Of Babylon itself has the criteria to much your 'simply Metal' likes.