One hell of an album; one which Metal fans will find delight in discovering for themselves.

Those familiar with the band Burning Point, will know that their vocalist Pete Ahonen stepped down recently as their lead singer, although continues as guitarist for the band. Worry not though, because if you're a fan of his voice, here he is again, lending his powerful roar to the brand new and very good Ghost Machinery album 'Evil Undertow'.

GM have released two previous albums, but with '...Undertow' they have definitely upped their game and the quality of the Melodic Metal they have come up with for this release. It's an album filled with songs that will have you singing along, soon after you've only played it a couple of times. One feature that makes this record different from your normal Melodic Metal fest, is the band's plentiful use of keyboards, which really help to flesh out the band's sound and give them an edge in this crowded genre.

Whack this album on and lose yourself in the Melodic Metal delights of 'Arms Of The Strangers', 'Fatal' and the boisterous 'Go To Hell (It's Where You Belong)'. These three songs are a brilliant way to start any album and all of them are built upon the band's superb musicianship, especially the guitars of Ahonen and the keyboards of Jussi Ontero. It's these three songs that help you to realize, that GM have something special going on.

They continue their aural assault with the mid-paced title track, which has one of the album's best hooks, 'Dead Inside', 'Lost To Love' and 'Fight For The Strangers' (bonus track) all offerings that will have you on the edge of your seat, waiting expectantly for what's coming next.

And this is where it gets a little strange. Seven songs down and a keyboard riff begins song eight and you find yourself wondering if there's been a misprint at the production plant. Why? Well the keyboard intro soon segues into a great version of Robert Tepper's 'No Easy Way Out', which on paper shouldn't work within the confines of this excellent Metal album – but it does. Then it's back to more of GM's expected style of excellent Metal, where we find them finishing things off in fine style, with the superb 'Last Line Of Defence' and 'Never Stop Running' (the second bonus track).

'Evil Undertow' came out of nowhere from a small independent label. This shouldn't hold it back however in a year when we've had some of the best Metal releases ever. Ghost Machinery have released one hell of an album; one which Metal fans will find delight in discovering for themselves.

Ian Johnson