Band:	Mattson
Album:	Power Games
Style:	Hard rock, Progressive rock
Release date:	March 2003

01. Open The Gate
02. Victim Of Freedom
03. Blind Faith
04. Chained To My Pain
05. Bridge To The Past
06. Safely Through The Fight
07. Beyond The Horizon - Guitar Concerto No 1
08. Lead Me On My Way

So, who is Lars Eric Mattsson? Because until I received this CD I was completely clueless of his existence, maybe because in the past years I was submerged in the Gothic and Death Metal genre? In my stay in the darker side of Heavy Metal, anything new happened here in the lighter side? Well, apparently, yes.

To answer my own question, Lars Eric Mattsson has been the guitarist for bands such as Condition Red, Vision and Astral Groove, and still his name doesn't ring a bell to me. Until now, that I have in my hands his new creation, Power Games.

So what does Mattsson has in stores for us? Well, Prog Metal, influenced by Deep Purple, Dream Theater and Yngwie Malmsteen, but maintaining the differences to offer us an original piece and not a copycat of the after mentioned acts.

From the kick-off 'Open The Gate' offer us a nice melodic progressive song, filled with great keyboards and on top of that the excellent voice of Lance King. 'Victim Of Freedom' is a more upbeat song, with a lot of instrumental moments where Mattsson can do his stuff [is his solo album right? He can take the time he want in his solos].

We slow things down a notch for 'Blind Faith' and his incredibly catchy chorus [it will stick in your mind for weeks!], 'Chained to my past' is the obligatory ballad, in this one Mattsson pulls up his acoustic guitar, and show us that he can play that too!

'Safely Through The Flight' is my favorite song in the record, a upbeat and catchy song with that "happy" vibe that we know and love, great song, great chorus, is just the best song of the record [at least for me]. Then it comes the last chance to show himself 'Beyond The Horizon - Guitar Concerto No 1' a 17 minute instrumental epic , this song has so many moments, and all his influences are used here, if you want to know what Mattsson is all about, listen to this one, the good thing is that Mattsson doesn't overdo himself with crazy soloing and faster-than-the-speed-of-light riffs, he just lets himself flow with the different vibes and tempos of the song, if you ask me, a instrumental masterpiece.

If you are fan of Progressive Meta/Rock, this is a must, if you like intricate passages and multifaceted songs, check this one, I'm not such a big fan of this type of music, but this album worked just fine for me.