"This is the Queensrÿche album that never was, but should have been. Sweet Oblivion is in every way a service to a legion of followers that have remained steadfast throughout Geoff Tate’s turbulent history and is proof that an iconic musical era can be revisited and even rejuvenated to create an entirely new classic."

Close your eyes and transport yourself to a time when Queensrÿche wasn't ripe with controversy.  One where their albums were judged purely for their musicianship and the emotions they invoke. A universe where Geoff Tate’s iconic vocals weren’t blemished by years of lawsuits and inter-band conflict.

Enter the album, Sweet Oblivion, a project by Simone Mularoni of prog metallers DMG, created for the sole purpose of orchestrating a musical landscape for former Queensrÿche and current Operation: Mindcrime vocalist, Geoff Tate to live and thrive in. Mularoni and his cast of talented musicians create a nostalgic world inhabited by dizzying fretwork, channeling a long-gone era of Queensrÿche, where riff-laden hooks were the norm and Rage for Order was still on regular rotation.

It’s obvious that Tate is having fun here. His vocal delivery isn’t contrived or forced. If anything, he seems reinvigorated and his melodies and range are as powerful as ever. "True Colors", the album’s opening track builds in sonic anticipation till its opening riff crushes any doubt that this album might fall on deaf ears. Free of any chains of expectation, every track on Sweet Oblivion is an amalgamation of all the best parts of Queensrÿche’s past that made them so iconic to begin with. There’s even a hint of Tate’s famous, low-register spoken word at the end of "Behind Your Eyes" hidden beneath the classic, catchy 80s guitar riff that is the foundation of the song.

The album closes with the more than appropriate, 5 minute epic, "Seek the Light". The song is a sea of emotion where Tate’s vocals tear right through you and then soar into an atmospheric ambiance thanks to the masterful guitarwork of Mularoni and accented by Emanuele Casali’s haunting keyboards. The final notes of the album ring like a disheartened but promising end of a holiday. Tomorrow we have to return to normalcy, rife with all the challenges that come with it. At least today we can enjoy a soundtrack to the sunset of what will eventually be a brighter yesterday. 

This is the Queensrÿche album that never was, but should have been. Sweet Oblivion is in every way a service to a legion of followers that have remained steadfast throughout Geoff Tate’s turbulent history and is proof that an iconic musical era can be revisited and even rejuvenated to create an entirely new classic.

As always, rock on my friends!     Hunnypot Approved!     Overall Rating:  9.0 out of 10

Artist:  Sweet Oblivion Feat. Geoff Tate,  Album: Self-Titled,   Release Date: June 14th, 2019,  Label:  Frontiers Music SRL