Ilium stands on a cusp between Helloween and more melodic power metal bands based solely on "My Misanthropia," which is baby's first Ilium album. Lance King fits well into this mold, as his experience from having worked in multiple power metal groups leads to a comfortable transition to Ilium's open-ended vision. Parts especially emulating the Helloween-esque underpinnings make King sound like a doppelganger to Michael Kiske, an affinity not worth tears. King's vocal delivery is likewise synchronized to the variety of paces and foundations used on the record, finding no woe adapting to up-tempo power metal tracks or mid-paced, atmospheric numbers which populate the album plenty. I honestly anticipated King's vocals were to tax Ilium's style given his track record, but his consistency serves as the force preventing "My Misanthropia" from capsizing.

The songwriting, though ambitious, jumps on that grenade, often acting as the source of the periodic dud. Ilium's problem isn't a lack of variety-"My Misanthropia" has plenty-but a total absence of permanence between tracks. They have this awful habit of unleashing a mediocre tune in the middle of excellent songs, a pattern captured right off the bat when the mid-paced plodding of "Quetzalcoatl" sticks its head between the admirable title track and the blazing up-tempo power of "Penny Black." "Lingua Franca," another mid-paced bomb this time replicating Helloween's stupid side � la "Dr. Stein" without the childish fun, carries the torch from "Penny Black" to the incredible power metal spectacle of "Godless Theocracies." This variation continues once "The Hatchling" rolls around, and sure enough Ilium is back to farting around for a few minutes.