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France's Black Hole combines elements of early 21st century power metal and slightly proggy traditional metal on their second album, Whirlwind of Mad Men. The singer possesses a strong voice with some real depth, at times evoking Ronnie James Dio, and does a lot to inject the songs with an emotional punch. The rest of the performances are on target and the production is bright and clear. They seem equally comfortable working with fast tempos and double kick drums ("My Friend," "Whirlwind of Mad Men") and slower anthems and epics ("Breaking the Rules," "The Legend of Justine"). The songwriting is not what I'd call adventurous and Black Hole color within the lines, but they do so well and there isn't a clunker, except maybe the cover of Aerosmith's "Dream on," which sounds to be just outside the singer's comfort range. The do better with their version of Iron Maiden's "Fear of the Dark," keeping it recognizable but also giving it their own stamp. The proggy metal of Iron Maiden with Bruce 2.0 along with '80s Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen and Helloween/Gamma Ray power metal is what you're in store for with Whirlwind of Mad Men.