"I really like this album, which is more hard-hitting that one might expect from Dream Theater's frontman. And that's exctly what I like about it. It is essentially less complex progressive metal fused together with Gothenburg melodeath and it works brilliantly.
I really like how the styes go so seamlessly together and there are even growled and harsh screamed vocals on this album (not sung by LaBrie) which work well in conjunction with LaBrie's melodic vocal lines and unique voice. In addition to melodeath and semi-thrashy elements, there are even a couple of, yes, blastbeats in some of the songs.
Tracks like "One More Time", "Jekyll or Hyde", "Mislead", "I Need You" and "Who Do You Think I Am" are very much in the vein of Gothenburg metal with certain progressive elements injected into them, and "This Is War" is, I guess, and all out melodeath track with blastbeats to boot. Brilliant!
"Over the Edge", "I Tried", and "Superstar" are more in the vein of traditional heavy metal, and all are solid tracks.
"Euphoric" is more of a ballad which manages to do what Dead By April failed miserably to do: combine melody and pop sensibility with the mighty gothenburg sound. The Same applies to "Just Watch Me". "Coming Home" is a mellow ballad which, without bursting the cheese-o-meter, is soft and emotional enough to constitute a nice emtional listening experience.
I really like this album, and I am very tempted to just give it five stars. I think it will resonate well with fans of Swedish melodic death metal and American melodic metalcore. Fans of progressive metal, I think, will also appreciate it, and of course Dream Theater fans should have an interest in this release too.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Static Impulse is a collection of 12 powerful melodic metal songs - made more interesting by a very strong vocal delivery from LaBrie and by the unexpected melodic-death-metal / metalcore influences courtesy of drummer Peter Wildoer of Darkane.
The product works well, and is genuinely surprising at first - especially given that is LaBrie we’re talking about: 20 seconds into “One More Time” and you actually think you are playing the new In Flames! The musicians are obviously skilled (LaBrie vocals are excellent throughout the album) and the production is very good as well. The melodies in the choruses are strong and will stick in your head, the verses are slightly less interesting but good stuff nonetheless. Having said that – the pitfall of Static Impulse is the lack of originality in the songwriting (seriously, this is all stuff we’ve heard already somewherelse - and at times this sounds really too much like In Flames with better clean vocals). Also, there is too much of the same thing here. Note: I am not complaining that Static Impulse is not “progressive” enough – in fact after a lifetime in prog metal it is actually a good thing that LaBrie shows that he can do other stuff. The fact is that if you pick any of the 12 songs on the album chances are that it will sound exactly the same as the song before it and exactly the same as the song after it (same structure, same pace, same sound, same mood).
Don't get me wrong: this is a very solid piece of work, and there’s not a single song on the album that I dislike. At the same time, I also struggle to find songs that stand out or are truly impressive. This is good stuff, you’ll enjoy playing this – but I bet it won’t last in your playlist for more than one month."
