The american prog band Queensrÿche has been around for a long time and has sold over 30 million albums worldwide since their 1982 self-titled 4-song EP. The band received worldwide acclaim after the release of their 1988 album Operation: Mindcrime, which is often considered one of the greatest heavy metal concept albums of all time. Empire followed in 1990 and was a big commercial success. But after that the band only produced average to bad albums. The poor performance culminated with the original singer Geoff Tate, who is considered one of the great singers in metal, being fired in 2012. A legal drama went on until the band released the thirteenth studio album and the first to feature new singer Todd La Torre. This self-titled LP was well received and so was Condition Hüman from 2015. Now in 2019, we are presented with the third La Torre era album, The Verdict. Interestingly, La Torre played the drums on this record as original drummer, Scott Rockenfield, took paternity leave. The four year gap reflects how much the band has been touring. I've personally seen them live and this line-up crushes it. Filling in live for Rockenfield for the past two years has been former Kamelot drummer Casey Grillo.
There's a collection of very good tracks in this album with a fair amount of diversity combining their 80's and 90's sound in one disc. "Blood of the Levant" opens The Verdict in great style. The song is classic Queensrÿche at its best. Fast paced, melodic and with La Torre making it clear why he was chosen to replace Tate. The single "Man the Machine" and track three "Light-Years" follow with the same direction and quality. "Inside Out" shifts gear to the more proggy sound but sustain the quality. The same can be said about the single "Dark Reverie" at slower pace but full of cool instrumental parts. Despite the unnecessary noisy intro "Bent" is a nice 90's inspired track featuring the coolest drum fills and bass lines of the album and great guitar work from the Wilton /Lundgren duo. The controversial "Inner Unrest" picks up the speed a bit with an interesting groove and an alt rock vibe. Then "Launder the Conscience" returns to the same style and aggressiveness of the first tracks.
Unfortunately this is not a perfect record. "Propaganda Fashion" starts well with energetic and catchy verses, but it falls flat when the chorus enters. And "Portrait" feels like a missed opportunity to close the album with something special. It's instead a low energy ballad which means in subsequent spins, you can just stop after track number nine. La Torre drumming does the job, but it's not a highlight. But my biggest complain is the the keyboard in the mix that really bothers me, it feels completely out of place (e.g. "Dark Reverie").
Overall, The Verdict borrows more from Empire and Promised Land than the last two releases which can become a problem for the die-hard fans of the 80's albums. For me personally, it hasn't been a problem, I truly enjoyed listing to this album albeit some of the issues mentioned. More importantly, The Verdict proves that Queensrÿche is full of renewed energy and they are here to stay. We can be happy that they will continue to tour with an amazing setlist combining the loved classics sang by a vocalist who can handle them perfectly with some good gems from this new phase.
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