Ride The Sky - New Protection (Nuclear Blast Records) - Back
The beginning of Ride The Sky can be traced back to early 2006 when renowned drummer Uli Kusch and singer Bjorn Jansson started to talk about doing a project together. A year later they are on Nuclear Blast and have an album entitled “New Protection.” That might seem rather quick, but these gentlemen are professionals.

This band has one heck of an all-star lineup. Ride The Sky feature past and current members of Helloween, Masterplan, Tears of Anger, Beyond Twilight, XsavioR, Dionysus, Gamma Ray and Stormwind. As mentioned above, on vocals Bjorn Jansson, and Uli Kusch on drums. On guitars and backing vocals Bjorn’s brother Benny Jansson. And Kaspar Dahlqvist (keyboards) and Mathias Garnås (bass) round out the lineup. As you can see there is quality all around.

Needless to say, the music is very well written. Though I thought these gentlemen may push the progressive boundaries a little further then they did. “New Protection “ has progressive power metal powerful vocals, amazing guitarwork and solos, and aesthetic drums. It’s a very compassionate composition.

Every track on this twelve song, nearly fifty-minute disc is at the very least decent. My favorites are “A Smile From Heaven,” “Far Beyond The Stars,” and “Black Cloud.” I’m sure there are many progressive power metal fans out there that will enjoy “New Protection.” So get off your ass and check it out!

Rating: 85

Reviewed By: Jeffrey D. Adkins