Music: Voyager - The Meaning Of I

 It's always a delight to stumble across a band you've never heard of that make good music.
Thank you Youtube. In amongst all the  Linkin Park V Dragonball AMVs, cellphone footage of dumb teenagers battering each other and dumber skaters trying to break themselves you do occasionally find gems.
 This is the fourth and latest album from Aussies Voyager but the first I've ever heard and I am impressed.
Metal Archives describes them as Symphonic/Melodic Metal. Well the Melodic bit is right. I'm not so sure about Symphonic though. That to me implies a certain bombast which just isn't the case here.
 At the risk of mockery, I'd maybe class this as the more accessible end of Prog-Metal. Balance of Power/Threshold territory but a tad more mellow.. All the songs are catchy and kept to a reasonable length, the musicians  know what they are doing but don't feel the need to solo for minutes on end and there's some interesting synths up front adding a little seasoning to the brew.
 The one thing that might give the listener pause is vocalist Daniel Estrin. He's got a pleasant enough voice that does the job well and without frills but there's no getting around the fact that he's got a very noticeable accent.
 Standout songs for me are:"The Meaning Of I", the Peter Steele tribute "Iron Dream" and "Broken"
Have a listen and see for yourself.

And here's the guys doing one of their trademark end of set medleys.