Masterplan - Time To Be King

Masterplan - Time To Be KingI have to say I was pretty geeked when I heard that Jorn Lande was back with Masterplan.  Not sure what happened, but I'm glad to hear that the boys have mended the fences and decided to rock together again.  Even though MKII rocked (The CD they did with former Riot vocalist Mike DiMeo), unfortunately the CD received mixed reviews, which left the fans clamoring for Jorn to rejoin the band.  Well 3 years later, Jorn has rejoined the band and they have just recently release their fourth CD titled Time to be King.  If your not familiar with Masterplan, they are powermetal band that was formed by ex-Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch back in 2003.  With the return of Lande, there will be high expectations placed on this new CD; lets see if the new disk will live up to the hype.

Time to be King blasts off with the killer track Fiddle of Time, which is an uptempo metallic rocker, which is full of melody and bound to be a staple in the band's set list.  It is great to hear Jorn back with the lads, DiMeo did a great job during his short tenure in the band, but there is nothing like the original.  The next track to kick my ass is the first single on the CD Far From the End of the World.  This track is also up-tempo rocker, fueled by Jorn's strong vocals and a very memorable chorus.  Killer track.  The interesting thing about this CD is that it has the classic Masterplan sound, mixed with Jorn's solo band.  It sounds like Jorn injected more of his sound into the mix with this release.  Once you check out the title track, you'll hear what I mean, because it sounds like it could have come off of one of Jorn's solo efforts.  All in all a solid effort, even though I think the latter part of the disk is not quite as strong as the first 6 tunes.  The last 4 tracks are good, but not as strong as the first 6.  Not sure if the CD was put together in stages or if the songs came from different sessions, but for the last 4 tracks, the band didn't bring their "A" game.

Bottom Line: Jorn is back in Masterplan, need I say more?

Standout Tracks: Far From the End of the World, The Dark Road, Time to be King and Lonely Winds of War

- Ragman has a plan...