QUEENSRŸCHE Digital Noise Alliance | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Century Media Records on October 7th, 2022

Quick Background

Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1980 in Bellevue, Washington. The original lineup consisted of guitarists Michael Wilton and Chris DeGarmo, drummer Scott Rockenfield, bassist Eddie Jackson, and legendary lead vocalist Geoff Tate. From 2012 to 2014 the band split into two due to a lawsuit with Geoff Tate, who was replaced by Todd La Torre then-frontman of Crimson Glory. The band has released 16 studio albums and having sold over 20 million albums worldwide. They 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.

Digital Noise Alliance

Their 16th studio album features 11 new tracks in 56 minutes plus a cover version of "Rebel Yell". It's already the 4th album to feature La Torre on vocals and the follow-up to 2019's The Verdict. Overall Digital Noise Alliance is not very different from the La Torre era albums. High quality and well written progressive metal in a condensed form where most of the songs are around the 4 to 5 minute mark with a couple of more adventurous ones (e.g. "Tormentum" and "Behind the Walls"). La Torre continues to sing impressively reminding us of his predecessor but often adding some Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford flavors to it. Queensrÿche are considered one of the leaders of the progressive metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and often referred to as one of the "Big Three" of the genre, along with Dream Theater and Fates Warning. Intentionally or not, the song "Out of the Black" is pure Fates Warning and it's a really cool song except that I don't like the chorus that much.

The album opens with the powerful "In Extremis" and then follows with the melodic but heavy "Chapters" which features a memorable chorus. The 80's like riff takes us into "Lost in Sorrow" which is very similar to classic era Queensrÿche. So is the longer mid-tempo "Nocturnal Light".

"Sicdeth" exemplifies how the band can be progressive and concise at the same time. The song is less than 5 minutes. But it's super dynamic from the moody intro to Priest-like first verse to a catchy chorus and slower tempo bridge. Many songs are adventurous like that and those are my favorite moments on this album. Take the closer "Tormentum"  for example, 7:30 minutes of progressive Judas Priest of sorts. "Realms" is also on those veins and features a very nice guitar work. The band is a not a virtuoso guitar hero band, but instead the guitars support the overall experience rather than taking the spotlight. With that said, there are some pretty cool arrangements. The typical prog metal clean and pristine production is once again credited to Chris “Zeuss” Harris

The Picky Guy

There's also a lot of more mid-tempo / ballad territory songs which to me drags the album a bit too long. Surprisingly, the band has been focusing on those songs as singles. Take "Hold On" for example after a very prog somber start we go into this moody verse  so far so good, but then the chorus is very poppy-like to my taste. Still an OK song, but then we also have "Forest" which is a full-on 80's ballad, it's nothing for me. Really can't listen to it. On the bright side, the proggy single "Behind the Walls" saves the day with its 80's Rush meets Iron Maiden sound.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Queensrÿche has found their modern sound without loosing their roots. With the 4th album with La Torre on the vocals the band kept their compositions and sound very consistent. There's heaviness, progressiveness and ballads spread across the album to keep different fans happy. I'd prefer to have less ballads and more progressiveness and that's why the album looses some points with me.  Still, it's a good album and it won't surprise long time fans. 80/100 and worth checking it. 

SCORE: 80/100

Genre: Progressive Metal

Released by Century Media Records on October 7th, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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