In Brief

With its sixth album, Queensryche has reduced its symphonic approach to metal into a surprisingly spare, mellow sound. This newfound simplicity isn’t really the band’s strong suit and the music falls into a mid-tempo, even-tempered rut. The most engaging tracks are those in which the group whips itself into a relative frenzy or lapses back into a familiar, lush sprawl.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).

Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: https:/ /www.latimes.com/soundclips