FEINSTEIN „Third Wish”

Genre: Traditional/Power Metal
Website: www.rockfeinstein.com
Label: www.spv.de

With its rather dodgy name and an album cover that sets metal art work back about 20 years, the prospect of reviewing this disc didn’t have me overly enthused. Most metal folk are rather adept at judging a book (or in this case, a CD) by its cover – it is an extremely important selling point for any metal act. If Feinstein was looking to attract anyone else other than died-in-the-wool Power Metal fans then I don’t think they did themselves any favors. The cover art of ‘Third Wish’ reeks of Euro trad/power metal – if you’re not a fan, there is absolutely nothing here for you. Do not read on any further.

As for this bands name, well I’m sure there have been a few bands that have used their founding members surname as their ‘moniker’- Ronnie James ‘Dio’ is the most obvious. But generally it doesn’t work it and furthermore it smacks of arrogance and conceit. That’s why we have Kreator instead of ‘Petrozza’, Clutch instead of ‘Fallon’. Joacim Cans of Hammerfall recently used the ‘Cans’ surname for his little side-project. David ‘Rock’ Feinstein though it would be a good idea to use his. Like Cans, it was not a good choice. Feinstein as a name for a metal band is about as lame as it gets.

Fortunately for Feinstein, Artwork and band moniker aside, the bands music is just a tad better (and that’s not saying much). However, I warn you again – you must be a massive, can’t get enough trad/power metal fan to fully appreciate Feinstein’s efforts. Quite frankly, this is middle tier power metal at its best – it’s enjoyable and solid enough – but really, only those metal folk who spend 95% of their listening time in the 80’s will revel in ‘Third Wish’.

David Feinstein is obviously the brainchild of this outfit – and as a guitarist, the man can play. Formerly of ‘The Rods’ and before that ‘Elf’ (where he played lead guitar for his cousin – none other than ‘Ronnie James Dio’…aahh, it’s all becoming clearer now), Feinstein has laid down some fairly tasty metal riffs on ‘Third Wish’. Loads of solid hard driving melodic riffs, searing lead work, mid tempo double bass drumming and classic power chords is the order of the day for this album. With a more than generous production (overseen by Manowar’s Joey DeMaio), there is a real 80’s metal vibe that will have you recalling early Priest/Maiden and Dio. Adding to the whole ‘classic metal’ feel is the excellent vocals of ‘John West’ (Artension/Royal Hunt) – his voice is pure 80’s metal that encompasses such influences like Dickinson, Dokken and Savatage’s Jon Oliva.

‘Third Wish’ is an enjoyable metal ride, nostalgic as it may be (and yes, there is nothing wrong with that as long as the music is good). There is no doubt that fans of riff heavy mid paced metal anthems will appreciate this album. However, as it is devoid of anything remotely post-1985, at 59 minutes it definitely overstays its welcome. The first half of this disc is certainly the better half, and not necessarily because it has the better ‘songs’, if you know what I mean. All up, a nice little nostalgic journey back to the 80’s when metal was pure. I actually broke out my copy of ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’ after listening to this. At the very least, ‘Third Wish’ has that kind of effect.

note: 7.7/10

Tracklist

1. Regeneration
2. Rebelution
3. Streaming Star
4. Third Wish
5. Rule The World
6. Masquerade
7. Far Beyond
8. Poison Ivy
9. Live To Ride, Ride To Live
10. Firefighter
11. Inferno