The Spectre Within

The album's style is predominantly heavy metal, and does not feature the progressive music elements that following releases would have. The album makes heavy use of falsetto singing and harmonized guitar riffs. In the 2010 music history book Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal, journalist Jeff Wagner stated that the album's sound was "darker and more complex" than bands such as Iron Maiden and Queensrÿche. He said the album's instrumentation consisted of "ham-fisted, second-rate riffs". The album's lyricals explore fantasy-related subject matter such as magic and dragons. Robert Taylor at AllMusic awarded The Spectre Within two stars out of five, saying that "Metal fans may enjoy this more than Night on Bröcken, especially 'Pirates of the Underground' and 'The Apparition', but there is very little, if anything, for the progressive fan." Trey Spencer at Sputnikmusic gave the album a similarly indifferent review, deeming it "for die-hard fans only". Some criticism was directed at John Arch's vocals, that were described as "slightly irritating due to the unchanging high-pitched nature of his voice", as well as the dated riffs and production.