Description

2015 reissue. Limited to 1000 copies

Six years after the kooky charms of Terminal Earth, and well into a decade of counter-cultures, cultures and re-countered cultures that could not care less, Axel Julius would finally accrue himself a new studio line-up for Scanner, and thus release the band’s third full length effort through Massacre records, one of the few labels eager to snap up bands performing power and progressive metal during this period, and to a fault (they released some fairly inadequate material, like this album). On the surface, Mental Reservation is actually an only natural progression from the band’s prior output. The Andreas Marschall cover art is intriguing, and the style of the band has not much changed. They’re still a melodic speed metal, for better or worse, and Julius is still capable of quite a few chops. In fact, he may have technically improved as a player for this album. As with any Scanner album, one can expect some degree of change in the line-up. But in this case, it’s an enormous difference. Axel is the only remaining member from the first two records, and here enlisted bassist John A.B.C. Smith (At Vance, Gallows Pole), skin beater D.D. Bucco and the third vocalist in three albums, Harridon Lee, who you may also know as Leszek Szpigiel, who has worked with Mekong Delta, Wolf Spider, and Crows. Once again, Julius has made a sound choice. Lee’s voice is silken and siren-like, and very much fits into the band’s modus operandi. But there unfortunately some measure of charisma lacking here. Whereas Coe and Knoblich had this uncontrolled charm, like lasers dancing across the void, Lee feels more restrained, or rather more careful. Nonetheless, he is still wholly capable of a melodic pairing with the guitar melodies, of which there are a great many. Technically, there are not many faults here. The lyrics here are arguably better than the past, though not nearly as amusing. The guitars feel a little thin in the reverb driven, atmospheric mix, but they compensate through their overall business and cutting delivery. The vocals are versatile and satisfactory, like Szpigiel’s performance on any other album, and I am left to wonder how he’d sound on an album of really well written tracks. That’s not to say Mental Reservation is a poor effort in the song department, because surely, nothing here deserves the label of bad, and even at this height of mediocrity, they still have more to offer than many other bands performing speed or power metal. And at the very least, a band thought long dead had returned from its hibernation, to make a stab for success in a time when so many had forsaken the format.

Track list:
1. Break The Seal
2. Upright Liar
3. After The Storm
4. Your Infallible Smile
5. Conception Of A Cure
6. Into A Brave Mans Mind
7. Out Of Nowhere
8. Nightmare
9. Rubberman
10. Wrong Lane Sociry
11. 20th Century Crusade