Emerald Rage "The Eyes Of The Dragon" Review.
Band Name: Emerald Rage
Album Title: The Eyes Of The Dragon
Tracklist:
Ringwraiths
From Here To Kingdom Come
Iconoclast
Sanguineous Aether
Of Feast And Fear
Through The Winter
The Eyes Of The Dragon
King Of Swords
Titan Of Sacred Fire
Moonlight
Running Time: 40:50
Release Date: May 29, 2026
Rating: 10/10
Version Reviewed: Jewel Case CD
Label: Stormspell Records
Band Members:
Jacob Wherley - Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals, Vocals
Tyson McCauley - Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Erik Curry - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Zach Nichols - Drums, Vocals
Lead Vocals On Track 9 - Curry, Wherley, McCauley, Nichols
Additional Musicians:
Nazgul Spoken Word by Jacob Wherley, Tyson McCauley, Erik Curry, Zach Nichols, Patrick Kern, Andy Russel, Brian Bennet, Joe Mobley And Tyrone Henry Washington
Drums Engineered By Chander Emhoff
Vocals, Guitars And Bass Engineered By Tyson McCauley
Produced By Emerald Rage
Mixed And Mastered By Tyson McCauley
Artwork By Jovan Dark Art
Booklet Design And Layout By Salmoneus
Ohio, eh? Well, I’ve been there a few times. Being from Michigan it’s inevitable. I have been to a death fest in Cleveland in the early 90’s. I didn’t see Drew Carey there despite asking where he was numerous times. I passed through there on the way to Maine and Florida. Ohio gets poked fun of often and I don’t know why. I mean, Gummo took place there, but I doubt that is indicative of the majority of people there. I don’t follow sports, but I know there’s a huge Michigan/Ohio rivalry, so I don’t give two shits about that. Some weird shit took place there for sure, like I think a fire that’s been burning for decades. The Cuyahoga River, maybe? I think that’s out. Weird shit happens everywhere. Calm down people. Ohio has always had a healthy metal scene, though. Case in point, Emerald Rage from Acorn, Ohio. I mean Akron, Ohio. Hey, that’s where Alcoholics Anonymous started! Anyway, enough of my shit. Let’s get on with it, eh?
The music on “The Eyes Of The Dragon”, the band’s third and newest full-length album is a mix of some of my favorite genres of metal. It’s part thrash and speed metal, part epic power metal. I hear influences of Sound Barrier, Exodus and other thrash/speed metal bands and there’s some Helloween styled dual guitar leads as well as some epic Blind Guardian moments as well. The sixth track “Through The Winter” and the last track "Moonlight" are two beautiful acoustic folk song. I’d love to see the band record an entire folk album like this. Just beautiful. And holy shit, is this well played! Very precise, well executed musicianship and amazing song writing. Amazing guitar leads and solos, a pronounced and pounding bass and fast as hell drumming (double bass everywhere!) all put a smile on this 80’s metal fan. The vocals are mostly clean, but there are a few harsher vocals, and the gang vocals remind me of Blind Guardian at their most epic times. Some of the vocals, especially on the first track, has narration in the speech of the Nazgul. Very cool. The lyrics are about Lord Of The Rings and other fantasy scenarios. The sound of the album is great due to a great production.
The cover art for the album is a fantasy scene with a fire-breathing dragon standing atop a hug castle that is on fire. That bitch probably set it on fire himself, In fact I’m sure of it. Asshole dragon. Inside the eight-page booklet are all of the album’s lyrics, album and band information and a few photos.
“The Eyes Of The Dragon” is a pure delight to listen to. Being a huge fan of thrash/speed metal as well as Helloween and Blind Guardian style power metal, this appealed to me from beginning to end. Add to that the excellent songwriting and musicianship and this warrants my highest possible rating and is one of my favorite albums of the year thus far. If they haven’t played it before, Emerald Rage would fit very well on the Prog Power U.S.A. bill!
As always, I like to ask my readers to support the bands, labels and artists by purchasing the physical copies of the albums you love and/or by going to their websites and/or Bandcamp and Facebook pages and supporting them there.
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