Losing the vocal talents of 'Jeff Scott Soto' could have resulted in the decline of any lesser group, but thankfully 'Axel' being 'Axel' managed to hire the equally sensational 'Johnny Gioeli', who isn't too dissimilar from 'Soto', thus resulting in a fairly seamless transition. Perhaps 'Axel' missed the chance here of taking a slightly different approach, as the album is structured similarly to 'Magic' (and many succeeding albums), there are a few more epic instrumental filled tracks, which has the effect of a little more 'Axel' showboating than normal, but all in all it's still business as usual.

'Axel's' habitual instrumental intro opens, this one goes by the title of 'Slaves of the Twilight' and is a pretty gloomy affair, that acts as a solid precursor to first track proper. 'Pay the Price' is the briskest cut present and won't disappoint fans of 'Axel's' heavier material, 'Johnny Gioeli' immediately impresses with his range and power and is accompanied by glorious licks, pulls and solos from the German guitar whiz, lyrically this is spot on for this style of song and overall opens the album in superb form. Arguably even better is the live favourite 'Carousel', a sublime mid tempo number that just oozes class, delightfully penned, uplifting chorus and more great vocals- top track. The first of the epics is brought about by 'Ashes from the Oath' which slowly builds from humble balladsy beginnings, to a hard rocking guitar fuelled gem, admittedly it's a little longwinded in places but the execution is exemplary. The pace is lifted for 'Ride the Rainbow', a fairly standard up-tempo 'Axel' rocker, personally I think the melody is a little downbeat for such uplifting lyrics, but as always the fret work is dazzling. It's back into epic mode with 'The Gates of the Seven Seals', a mid tempo number that despite a few twists and turns and exacting performances is unjustifiably 10 minutes long. The melodic title track follows in a more balladsy fashion and demonstrates just how good 'Johnny Gioeli' is on the softer material, where his vocals combine with a glorious melody to great effect. Next up is the neoclassical meets gothic instrumental 'Prelude to the Moon', 'Axel' is just top notch here and receives splendid support from keyboardist 'Ferdy Doernberg' to help make this a wonderful piece. It's back to the full-blooded rockers with the last two tracks, the first of which is 'Living on the 'Wildside', a good solid cut, perhaps at times sounds a little recycled from previous heavier 'Axel Rudi Pell' songs, but all the same well worth a listen. Ensuing in a similar fashion is 'Holy Creatures' a solid up-tempo cut that while lyrically isn't one of there best, is compensated for by a glorious 'Axel' solo and more sharp work from 'Gioeli' and the rhythm section, who keep the track moving nicely.

Another strong effort for 'Axel', especially considering it's the first outing for 'Johnny Gioeli', personally I think the balance of songs could have been better (too longwinded mid album), but all in all another fine release.