In the late 1980's, APOLLO RA were a real something. Some will say even the greatest underground Heavy/Power Metal band of their time. There first and only album, "Ra Pariah", was released in 1989, only in tape format. After 26 years, the original producer, Carl Canedy, decided to re-release this outstanding album, now remastered and available for all. The new release includes all the original songs, and two additional bonus tracks. APOLLO RA stands on, and basically are, the thin line between Heavy and Power metal. The first song “Crimson Streets” is a soft ballad for the first minute or so. When the guitars begin banging, the song turns into a fest, harsh, of old-school heavy metal, while holding the quality of music today. In the first listen to the album, you would never think this is a first album for a band, they sound professional and completely sure of what they are doing. Considering those guys operated in the late 80's, their concept is rather innovative and ahead of their time. Not long after MANOWAR, YANGWIE MALMSTEEN and RONNIE JAMES DIO turned the Heavy metal into what was later on known as Power, APOLLO RA joined the party to create something of their own. Even though the music is well suited for the time in the metal history, the lyrics are way ahead. As the album goes along, the lyrics become farther away from reality and closer to the themes the Power metal values the most- of heroes, quests, and mythical creatures. In the original tapes, side A and side B were almost two different albums. The A side is a more down-to-earth hard rock stile, while the B side is much heavier and just plain old Power metal. Take for example the first song to the B side, “Ra Pariah”, about the Egypt mythical god Ra. Other examples for those lyrical choices are the songs “Bane Of The Black Sword” and “March Of Fire”. To finish with a good taste, the album ends with a couple of bonus tracks that in the past were only released as demos. “Winds of Time” is an amazing song, with a great concept, recorded in bad quality. It could have been the best song in the album if it wasn't for the poor sound even remastering couldn't fix. Same goes for “Alone In The Dark”, a good song that could have been great if the band had another chance to work on it. “Ra Pariah” is the product of hard work done by a great band 26 years ago, and a resourceful producer willing to bring this artwork back from the grave. After listening to this album, all I can say is I'm sorry they didn't continued their work back then, maybe becoming another grandparent to the Metal as we know it today.