Review by Rexorcist for Viper - Theatre of Fate (1989)

I've heard a couple of Viper's worse albums before, and they always felt like just another metal band to me with nothing to set them apart, or to put them in the big leagues of Brazilian metal with Sepultura and Angra.  But I never got around to their opus until now.  Theatre of Fate is very short, meaning it doesn't have a lot of time to do what it needs to do, so let's hope the speed and creativity are jam-packed enough to work, if they exist, right? Viper's debut, Soldiers of Sunrise, felt more like a practice run for what power metal in Brazil would become, so I had mixed feeling as to whether or not the hype of this album would be lived up to.

The band's ability to jam is almost incredible.  This early power metal release already matches Helloween and Blind Guardian in that vein, and their speed metal jam factor is at its peak as well as the album balances out the best of both worlds and makes it look like a five-year-old could do it, which we all know is not the case.  The best section on the album may be the middle, as "A Cry for the Edge" and "Living for the Night" are all incredible metal pieces with some of the best riffing and metallic atmosphere I've heard from either genre.  Let's not forget the occasional neoclassical elements such as the middle section of "At Least a Chance" and the opener to "Prelude to Oblivion."  They aren't quite Symphony X level, but they are energetic and metallic enough to get the job done.

I'll be fully honest, I was NOT expecting Theatre of Fate to be this damn fantastic.  I'm very critical of most power metal because I've thoroughly explored a great deal of it, and I'm careful not to overrate anything that doesn't deserve it.  When I make a top 100 of something, I make sure everything in that top 100 is WORTH IT, and this was a very easy choice for my top 20 power metal albums.  It's only 30 minutes, but those 30 minutes are used beautifully.  I'd even go as far as to say that this is better than the first Keeper.