The Heavy Metal Philosopher has superb, detailed coverage of the great new release, ExtermiNation, from Raven.

Here’s the bottom line:

Raven has always been a bit experimental — you might think of them of the Rush or the Yes of actual metal, so confidently anchored in the mainstays of the genre, so competent in their musicianship that they were free to incorporate whatever they chose into their songs.  On this album, it’s clear that there’s some musical influence and homage from a variety of sources — there’s passages where while listening you’ll be reminded of bands as fundamentally different as Megadeth, (pre-Hagar) Van Halen, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Accept, and even Metal Church.  At the same time, there’s a definite contemporary power-metal sensibility running through many of the tracks — particularly in terms of the drumming. …

Simply put, this is a must-have album for anyone who is interested in contemporary heavy metal.  If we have to pick a genre to place it within, it would be Power Metal — but it’s not just that.  This is classic New Wave of British Heavy Metal, updated to the present day, by a band that has decades of achievements to their credit and is, quite simply, in their musical prime in the present.  Decades down the line, anyone who didn’t purchase this album is going to be kicking themselves for their oversight!

Go read the whole thing.

And then go rock out with Raven!