Crimson Glory hold a distinct place in my personal Metal Hall o’ Fame. I was a big fan of their 1986 debut with the classic Queensrÿche style and its amazing energy. Midnight immediately became one of my favorite singers and I was dazzled by the way the band took classic metal idioms and made them feel so majestic and elegant. 1988’s Transcendence took their sound even further, becoming more progressive, heavier and more epic in scope. This is the album that essentially invented the progpower genre.
At the time, the band seemed ready to achieve amazing things and conquer the metaverse. Then, they released Strange and Beautiful in 1991 and the wheels came off Glory‘s cart. To call that album a sold-out dumpster fire is an understatement, and it still makes me wonder what on earth the band was thinking when they released it. It’s on par with Celtic Frost‘s Cold Lake , Metallica‘s St. Anger or Krokus‘ Change of Address , and it will live forever in infamy as an album that killed its career. As expected, the band broke up after that, with Midnight leaving for good, leaving disappointed fans wondering what could have been.
The band attempted a fresh start in 1999, but Astronomica was nowhere near the quality of the first albums and it sank again into self-inflicted oblivion. 26 years later, three of the original members attempt another comeback with Chasing the Hydra . The cynic in me wondered why they’d even bother. They created 2 classic all-time metal albums and nothing they do now could compete with them. With great expectations as their eternal enemy, it’s far more likely they would simply dim the shine of their brilliant releases. Still, the naive teenager in me hoped for a miraculous rebirth of the band I still love. Where does Chasing the Hydra sit among these utterly opposite scenarios? As one would expect, somewhere in the middle.
Helped undoubtedly by a set of very low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by Chasing the Hydra . Obviously, it can’t touch the classic albums with a 100-foot Poke Em Pole, but it’s effective, fun progressive power with enough of the classic Crimson Glory sound to trigger nostalgic memories. The opening track “Redden the Sun” is aggressive and urgent, as the new singer, Travis Willis, displays his impressive collection of pipes. The guitar work from original Ben Jackson and new addition Mark Borgmeyer is fluid and technical, and the song itself is decent, if a bit scattered.
The title track begins with the main riff from the classic Transcendence album “Red Sharks”, which is either cool or cornball, I can’t decide. The song sounds more like something from Sanctuary‘s debut than from Crimson Glory , but it’s good nonetheless, though Willis overdoes it at times.
The first real winner comes with “Broken Together”, which sounds quite a lot like vintage Glory, where you could imagine it appearing on the early classic albums. Wills sounds so close to Midnight that it causes concern, and the whole package has the same strange power the old albums had. “Angel in My Nightmare” is an extended epic that plays as a pastiche of “Lonely in Love” and “Azrael”, and takes you on an interesting journey through the band’s various eras (wisely excluding Strange and Beautiful ). It’s a bit long, but it pulls it off.
«Indelible Ashes» is yet another success story, sounding like the love child of 80s Crimson Glory and Queensrÿche’s Rage for Order . Wills moves between Midnight and Geof Tate tribute vocals, and this is another version that resembles the logical successor to the Transcendence material.
«Beyond the Unknown» is another win where Wills shifts tone to sound almost exactly like Lance King, and the chorus sounds like essential Pyramaze . The only song that doesn’t really click for me is «Armor Against Fate», where the writing becomes too spasmodic and proggy, abandoning transitions to stagger from idea to idea. Even then, it’s not bad, and the chorus sticks in your mind. At 47 minutes, and with most songs in the 4-5 minute range, Chasing the Hydra ends up an easy spin with a nice ebb and flow.
Much of Chasing the Hydra‘s success is due to the vocal magic of Travis Wills. Yes, the guy can imitate Midnight, which isn’t an easy feat, but he doesn’t spend the whole album trying to become a clone. He changes tones and styles to match the material and generally does an excellent job upgrading solid into above-average material. Ben Jackson and new member Mark Borgmeyer do an excellent job decorating each song with the right mix of powerful riffs and beautiful, ethereal harmonies, without ever drifting too deep into Cheese Meadows. There’s a surprising amount of oschein power in some of these tracks, which offsets the lighter moments.
If you’d met me at a drunken New Year’s Eve party last December and told me I’d be giving good reviews to Metal Church and Crimson Glory in 2026, I would have dismissed you as a fool and a charlatan. Yet here we are, and I underestimated Metal Church ! Chasing the Hydra is the album we should have gotten in 1991. It may have taken 34 years, but better late than never. Glory‘s days may not be over after all. I hope that somewhere in the Great Beyond, Midnight is smiling.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: BraveWords
Websites: theofficialcrimsonglory.com | facebook.com/crimsonglory |
Worldwide release: April 17, 2026
