Powertrain sell themselves as a unique blend of melodic metal, classic rock and power pop, stirring memories of the classic guitar and Hammond-driven hard rock of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, the airy prog of Pink Floyd, the '80s power metal of Dio and Iron Maiden, or the modern feel and moodiness of Alice In Chains, which sounds good so far but upon listening the promise quickly fades.

The four members of Powertrain have been on the circuit a long time and have the experience and know how to boot but the fact that their media blurb tells me "it would only be difficult to pigeon hole" is a little farcical, that would be in the same difficulty league as predicting the tracks on the latest Dad Rock compilation on the shelf of your local super market next father's day.

This album could be a Dio career retrospective tribute if the songs came even close to the legacy left behind by the horn thrower himself. The previously mentioned influences on 'Off The Rails' can be heard in abundance but the songs are arduous and even contrived. I do like the vocals of Kendall Bechtel as they are strong and very Ronnie James Dio in the main, there are also flashes of decent more modern sounding moments such as 'Rock Train' along with other sporadic flashes of notable moments but they are far and few between.

How to summarise this is lower league classic rock with nothing new of any real interest on offer. Next.....

www.myspace.com/powertrainband