V/A

The participants of this compilation chant in chorus like kids sharing an orange — there are many of them, but the orange is just one. Indeed, if you count the number of dragon-themed power metal fetishes per unit of disc space, then in the said category "Louder Than the Dragon" is a strong contender for the leader's jersey. No wonder this plush marvel sprawls across two CDs. As for the substance, you can immediately split the noisy roster into two camps — those following the glorious path of Helloween-esque Germans and those craving the epic might of Italian rhapsody. The former diligently do without keyboards, while the latter just as diligently stuff keyboards into every compositional gap. Nevertheless, interesting things pop up quite often: for example, BURNING POINT — a heavy clone of the Swedish kiddie-pop act AQUA with two vocalists, one high-pitched and almost girlish, the other gruffly masculine. Besides them, HUMAN FORTRESS impressed with a composition evoking nostalgia for old Soviet films, MOB RULES with their richly keyboard-laden dance-power, and of course RHAPSODY (where would we be without them!) with a post-Wagnerian epic about the Emerald Sword.