Search - Scanner :: Mental Reservation

Another great, unrecognized Metal album

Thomas R. Brown | Greenfield, Wisconsin United States | 02/09/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Scanner is no stranger to obscurity. Having dwelled beneath the surface for over a decade, the band nevertheless continues producing quality music. After the S.L. Coe experiment that was Terminal Earth, they regrouped with new crooner Haridon Lee and released what I think of as an unknown gem: Mental Reservation.The album is a concept piece telling the story of a man who witnesses his world destroyed twice over by madmen seeking ultimate power. My advice: don't read the lyrics until you've listened to the music several times. If it wasn't for the nearly incomprehensible words, this album would have been a 5-star effort.What I love so much about this material are the soaring vocal melodies. Haridon Lee's voice isn't Bruce Dickinson or RJ Dio by a longshot. But he has passion and injects the vocal melodies with so much emotion--the refrains and choruses really fly on songs like "Break the Seal" and especially "After the Storm." The latter song is worth the price of the album alone, trust me.Musically, Scanner chose a more melodic style than their previous efforts. Mental Reservation was the CD where Scanner began breaking from its Speed-Metal roots. Some progressive elements are evident, although I would be uncomfortable referring to this CD as "Progressive Metal" because that isn't what the band is trying to do here. It's Power Metal with lyrical, high-flying vocal lines and plenty of crunch.I wish more people could have heard this album when it was first released; but alas, the words "Scanner" and "Popularity" seem destined never to be associated with one another. Still, I wanted to put a good word in for this CD: if you are a Power or Melodic Metal fan--or if you just want to try something new--you will adore Mental Reservation."