Fifth album in for 'Rage' and 'Reflections of a Shadow' follows firmly in the footsteps of its predecessor 'Secrets in a Weird World' and while that's no bad thing, 'Rage' still haven't managed to repeat the successful formula used on 'Perfect Man'. As with the previous album there's some fine material, but also the odd less unfocused efforts, that said 'Peter Wagner's' vocals continue to improve with each album and this goes down as a decent but less noteworthy album in 'Rage's' impressive back catalogue.

A customary instrumental intro opens, this time around it's a haunting ethereal piece titled 'Introduction (A bit More of Green)', this leads nicely onto the first track proper. 'Human Bondage' is a lively pulsating cut, which highlights a punchy hard hitting chorus, a mixed vocal performance from 'Peavey' and some steadfast rhythm work- not the finest 'Rage' opener but far from poor. Better in my opinion is 'True Face in Everyone', the 'Priest' style introduction is a nice touch, while the melodic chorus is solid and further bolstered by a couple of splendid instrumental breaks. The tempo softens for 'Flowers that Fade in My Hand' and while a nicely penned track, I don't think 'Peavey's' vocals work particularly well and maybe this song would have worked better as a true ballad. Much brisker is the title track 'Reflections of a Shadow' a simple catchy rocker that's graced by some grooving rhythm, powerful if a tad repetitive chorus and strong instrumental break. Less impressive is the crude 'Can't Get Out', the odd introduction does nothing for me, while the unusual vocal delivery is just bizarre, there's some nice guitar licks later on, but it's too late by then. Improvements are quickly made with the riff rolling 'Waiting for the Moon', a catchy rocker upheld by some divine hypnotic rhythm work and cutting vocals on some decent lyrics. Less energetic is the downhearted plodder 'Faith', a pretty bland and long-winded number, even the guitar solo fails to lift this song. Back on track is the vigorous 'Saddle the Wind', which wouldn't look out of place on 'Perfect Man', an excellent rocker that's catchy, sports nice fret work and 'Peavey' on good form. Better still is the ultra impressive power ballad 'Dust', lyrically exquisite and very passionately performed and even comes with a deft 'Manni Schmidt' guitar solo- checkout the rocky outro- superb. It's back to the heavy material with 'Nobody Knows' a pretty basic and enjoyable rocker, 'Peavey' works the lyric admirably, while the rhythm section turn in a solid performance. Last up is the hard-hitting drum and bass driven 'Wild Seed', probably the briskest track present and while the chorus is a little basic, still a decent effort.

Five bonus tracks are included with the re-mastered version of 'Reflections of a Shadow', the first four of which were originally released on '91's EP 'Extended Power'. The foremost of which is the simply titled 'Woman', a basic Speed Metal track that comes across a little crude for my liking, despite this the guitar solo is noteworthy. In complete contrast is the pulsating 'Ashes' a rhythm driven track that's much more refined than 'Woman' and more Power Metal in approach, overall a very good number. Next up is the impressive 'Bottlefield' a track I believe dates back from their 'Avenger' days, a quality brisk rocker with a kind of 'Saxon' style driving rhythm, a little brief but very enjoyable. The lively but hardly pedal to the metal instrumental 'What's Up' follows and while not really indicative of 'Rage', still a pleasant if not throwaway journey. Last up is an acoustic rendition of 'Woman' and while this version probably works better than the original, definitely not one of their finest efforts.

There's not really much between this and the previous release 'Secrets in a Weird World', in fact I couldn't pick between the two of them. The next album sees 'Rage' start to thicken the sound further, as they move into their classic Power Metal sound.