• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

September 2025

• Primal Fear: Domination
• Glenn Hughes: Chosen
• FM: Brotherhood

August 2025

• Helloween: Giants & Monsters
• Rising Steel: Legion Of The Grave
• Mob Rules: Rise Of The Ruler
• Rust N Rage: Songs Of Yesterday
• Crowne: Wonderland
• Strangers: Boundless
• Jack The Joker: The Devil To Pay In The Backlands

July 2025

• Honeymoon Suite: Wake Me Up When The Sun Goes Down
• Ramonda: The Walls Are Crumbling Down
• Scardust: Souls
• Laguna: The Ghost Of Katrina
• Eternal Idol: Behind A Vision
• Double Vision: Double Vision

April/May 2025

• The Speaker Wars: The Speaker Wars
• Giant: Stand And Deliver
• Sign Of The Wolf: Sign Of The Wolf
• Harem Scarem: Chasing Euphoria
• Cosmic Cathedral: Deep Water
• Beholder: In the Temple of the Tyrant
• Art Nation: The Ascendance
• Laurenne/Louhimo: Falling Through Stars
• Rock Out: Let's Call It Rock N Roll
• The Flower Kings: Love
• Maestrick : Espresso Della Vita: Lunare

March 2025

• W.E.T.: Apex
• Alliance: Before Our Eyes
• Ginevra: Beyond Tomorrow
• Phil X & The Drills:
  Pow! Right In The Kisser
• IQ: Dominion
• Heart Line: Falling Heaven
• Gotthard: Stereo Crush
• Defender: Dying To Live
• Streetlight: Night Vision

[ More Music Reviews ]

Structural Disorder: And The Cage ...

Progressive Metal

3.0/5.0

Website Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
Lion Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 28.02.2018

Almost to the month, Sweden's Structural Disorder has released a new album every two years. They return with their third album with a very clever title: ... And The Cage Crumbles In The Final Scene. And the provocative title may be the best thing about this album.

Spartan Warrior

Honestly, I didn't much like this album, finding it a difficult listen over all. It's heavy, thrashy, and thumping in large parts with generous thick riffs and a deep bottom end. There's also a lot of staccato drumming, especially within Nine Lies and Mirage. Then there's the vocals. I'm not sure who the lead vocalist is; four players are given credit for vocals. But the vocals seem all over place: clean and melodic to monotone moaning to screamo to death vocals. The latter are particularly harsh within Mirage, The Fool Who Would Be King, and Drowning.

But here's the thing: those last two songs are examples of where Structural Disorder can be interesting, but in parts. Within the former there's carnival like electric accordion. In Drowning, there's a nice acoustic guitar and bass breakdown after the midpoint, and more accordion at the end. I never thought I would find or like accordion in progressive metal, but I did. Weird Al Yankovic would be so proud.

In the end, the best, most accessible, and pleasing song here is the instrumental Kerosene which, driven by a fine piano melody, casts aside the problems of the thrashy heaviness and disappointing vocals. Basically, I found Structural Disorder's ... And The Cage Crumbles In The Final Scene to be, in parts, curious and interesting, but as a whole, mostly disappointing. You may feel differently.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

I found Structural Disorder's ... And The Cage Crumbles In The Final Scene to be, in parts, curious and interesting, but as a whole, mostly disappointing and a difficult listen. You may feel differently.

Alphabetical Index

To paraphrase late night talk show host David Lettermen, my next artist needs little introduction. Germany's Helloween are practically the godfathers of traditional European power metal. This year they will the ... [ Read More ]