Mind Riot

Peak (Flying)
by Scott Hefflon

This has some incredible moments, many unexpected twists in its songwriting, and one tragic flaw: Production. In song one, you can hear the “punch in” just before the female vox come in. Later, the double bass thundering is so poorly tweaked, it sounds like someone punching a pillow. Luckily, I gave it another shot. I can honestly say this is one of the most diverse metal albums I’ve heard. But please, next time hire a producer. Musically, Peak starts with the standard guitar muscle and riffing techniques of the early ’80s, tosses in an Elfin female voice, switches from progressive metal vocals to a demon growl and back again, slips in some funk jazz guitars, some choppy Helmet rhythms, and a few soaring doom tangents – and that’s per song! You get the picture.