QUEENSRŸCHE

Their third post-Tate album is another triumph.

Geoff Tate was viewed as a talisman throughout the glory years of these progressive metal pioneers from Seattle – and to many, irreplaceable. The ease with which Queensrÿche have overturned such notions these past seven years speaks volumes not only of Tate’s successor, former Crimson Glory man Todd La Torre, but of the group’s combined talent pool. With co-founder Scott Rockenfield excluded due to “personal commitments”, the third album of their new regime had faced an additional hurdle until La Torre, a drummer in his youth, stepped up for The Verdict. Though the results are perhaps not as overtly progfriendly as 2015’s Condition Hüman, their 15th album continues to put clear daylight between the risible Dedicated To Chaos (2011), continuing the restoration of their reputation as a band of grace and flair. La Torre’s delivery still sounds like Tate, something that helped to smooth a potentially impossible transition, though slightly less so this time around. Applied to a set of songs examining the Syrian conflict (Blood Of The Levant) and persecution of the American Indian (Bent), the ’Rÿche are asking questions in a voice that once again resonates with authority and commitment.