Night On Bröcken - Fates Warning

I found out about his band through a Last.fm chat room or something like that. I visited it because of a thing for Black Tide. The first song that I heard by these guys is Buried Alive. Well I guess that these guys are a progressive metal band, which helped form progressive metal, from 1983 and Connecticut. This is the first Progressive Metal album I've reviewed. I'm not huge on progressive metal, ie  

1. Buried Alive: I've heard this song a frickin ton of times. This was the first song that I ever heard by these guys. The riff in this reminds me of Judas Priest. The vocals also remind me of Rob Halford's vocals on Priests old school stuff from the '70s. This song is a frickin awesome way to start off an album and gives a good impression on this album. The solo on this song is a heavy metal solo that in a way reminds me of Hell Bent For Leather's guitar solo. (That is one of my favorite guitar solos ever). This is a just Bad Ass song, and is one of my favorite songs I've heard, and I can think of, that were released in 1984.
2. The Calling: The riff in this song sounds like on that would be on Killing Machine or British Steel. This is a very cool sounding riff. Yeah the chorus and the vocals and everything about this song remind me of Priest. This could seriously be a cover version of a song by a tribute band, that sounds like them. There is a part where the riff and song gets more intense and leads up to the solo. This solo is cool cuz instead of all over the place it's only a few notes but strummed fast. Not super fast but fast enough.
3. Kiss Of Death: The riff in this song reminds me of something off Peace Sells album by Megadeth. The beginning is kind of don't mess around, angry feel to it. This also reminds me of Priest. I think that the drums on this song are really cool. I wish the bass was easier to hear in the mix, instead of it being buried in the back.The riff also reminds me somewhat of Barracuda by that sweet ol' Heart (get it). This song is a little different from the rest of the tracks in the matter that it is much more heavy metal oriented. And also this is, thus far on the album, the best and longest solo. It is a few seconds short of 1 minute vs the other songs solos that are probably 30 seconds.
4. Night On Bröcken: This song defiantly sound like a Maiden song. NO DOUBT IN MY MIND. That's why I like this. It reminds me, kind of, Translyvania. I know a lot of song remind me of that, but they do. I wish that this was instrumental, it would be so much cooler and powerful. This song is one of the strongest song on this album, big time. There is a power and a feel that I get from this song that pump me, like Shadowfax. There is a breakdown and they use wind chimes to go into that. This reminds me of Strange World's guitar part in the beginning arpeggios. After the arpeggios are done this goes into a song that reminds me of like a "power filled" power ballad. It almost reminds me of Scorpions 1975 In Trance except more power behind it. The second half of the song VERY much so reminds me of '70s Scorpions. It ends with that same Strange World thing. {10/10}
5. S.E.K.: This reminds me of the beginning of They Need A Million by the Scorpions off their 1974 album Fly To The Rainbow. This is a pretty song and a good way to lay back and have a break from the rest of the songs. And I think a good way to end a side on a vinyl.
6. Misfit: The riff and the drums in this song are cool. The drums are more hear-able in this track. I think that this feels like it is together. Also you can hear the bass on this song better than on one of my other favorite songs Kiss of Death. The riff in this song is right on. This has a solo that reminds me of, well what do you think. None the less it is fucking sick. There is a part in the lyrics where it says "You live by the sword and die by the sword". That whole entire verse where that is said reminds me of Iron Maiden's song Flash of the Blade, which appeared on 1984's Powerslave. {9/10}
7. Shadowfax: The instrumentation of the beginning of this song are perfect for an instrumental. It has this Medieval feel to it. It reminds me of Iron Maiden's first album. Not so much a particular track, but I could see this being on that album. The whole entire song is set up like one. After the intro just after 2 minutes the song goes on fucking steroids and goes into seizure mode. The song gets more intense than any other song on this album, excluding the self titled track. Not only is it fast paced and length wise, but it cuts. WHY!!!!!!! {10/10}
8. Damnation: There is a whole Children of the Damned feel to the beginning of this song. There is an acoustic intro to it and it sounds pretty. It is kind of touching, considering that this is like Children of the Damned, which is one of my favorite Maiden songs. When I listen to this song all I can do really is picture that song. I'm not saying that theses guys copied them, all I'm saying it that it sounds similar, but it a very good way. This song is a fucking bad ass mother fucker.
9. Soldier Boy: This song is good, I think that it is very... Consistent. I don't think that this is all that amazing of a song. I think it is a little to similar to the rest of the ideas of the songs on the album. I'm digging the solo, just not really the rest of the song. This has so much potential and it isn't met. I feel like the way this song is that it fucking take me away. I mean the solo is awesome, just not the rest of the song. There is dual harmony guitar parts, much like Iron Maiden and Priest often do on older stuff. There is also an evil laugh in the song. At the end of the song it sounds like something is collapsing. I do think that that is pretty cool sound effect and a cool way to end this album. {7/10}

Overall I think that this is 8.8/10. I liked this album. There were some duds on this album, so that hurt the score I gave it. Now there weren't a ton of those. In fact I want to get this on CD and on Vinyl in the future. The album gets a lot better after if you try to forget about track 2. I think that the album is a little consistent on the sound of the songs. There isn't that huge of a variation among the tracks and some sound similar. That isn't that much of a problem for me when it comes to this album. The only thing it does is bring down the score. By the end of this I almost want to start listening to the Iron Maiden self titled album.