Ligion

"Have you completely lost yourself for good?" asks Ligion on his debut CD, giving voice to perhaps the biggest cliché of modern rock: artists forsaking their individuality in favor of the now-standard woe-is-me rock paradigm.Thankfully, Ligion is teeming with personality, which helps elevate his brooding rock over the output of so many like-minded bands.

Like Opeth, Ligion is a band named after its lead singer; also like that female belter, Ligion has a soft spot for melodrama. At times evoking Life of Agony's Keith Caputo, at others Tool/Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan, Ligion boasts a powerful delivery with exceptional range; it's both his greatest asset and greatest liability. Like many young and talented vocalists, Ligion tends to get carried away when he's showing off his impressive pipes, and the occasional result on Ligion is emotional overkill. But there's no denying the force and finesse of much of Ligion's material, particularly the bellicose, guitar-driven opening cut "Bird," the industrial-tinged fist-pumper "Far Away," and the soaring power ballad "Stagnant." For Ligion, a little restraint could go a long way.