James Byrd’s ATLANTIS RISING – self-titled [Japan Edition] HQ

James Byrd is one of a prominent guitarist that’s well-known from his former band, FIFTH ANGEL. After Fifth Angel re-released its debut in 1988 under new major label Epic there was a disagreement about royalty payment, with Byrd finally flew off and replaced by Kendall Bechtell.
Byrd formed his own band James Byrd’s ATLANTIS RISING and released this self-titled debut in 1990, and album musically with a lot of FIFTH ANGEL on it but also DOKKEN and a bit of CRIMSON GLORY. Although not credited, House Of Lord’s et all Ken Mary play drums all over the LP.
I found several interesting songs in this album such as “Into The Light”, “After The Fire”, and “Eye of The Storm”. “Let It Out” stands out with roaring overture that blasted into a great metal song, one of the best tunes of the album.

“Remembered Love” is also another good commercial track, a mid-tempo melodic rocker with Dokken-esque atmosphere and riffing style. “Angel of Mercy” is a strong metal ballad with an US classy sound, while there’s an epic on the 7-minutes of “Bay of Rainbows” reflecting Byrd’s virtuosity.

Although the album had been slated for a 1990 US release on Shrapnel Records, a lawsuit between label president Mike Varney & his distributor left Byrd’s LP in limbo, which remained undistributed for an entire year.
This frustrating situation grew more unfortunate when the originally-scheduled release date arrived & the promotion’s now-useless advertising campaign mistakenly launched & for months erroneously announced. However, when appeared in 1991 in Japan, ”James Byrd’s ATLANTIS RISING” charted at #14 in Asia and was a top twenty metal release in many European territories.
A rocking album with melody and killer guitar work.
Highly Recommended

01 – Into the Light
02 – Let It Out
03 – After the Fire
04 – Fallen Warrior
05 – Angel of Mercy
06 – Driven by Desire
07 – Eye of the Storm
08 – Remember Love
09 – Bay of Rainbows
10 – Fly to the Sun

James Byrd – Guitars
Freddy Krumins – Vocals
Evan Sheeley – Bass, Keyboards
Ken Mary – Drums

out of print