The Queensryche Queensryche (Marbled) vinyl is a pressing of the Seattle progressive metal band’s 2013 self-titled album, issued here by Alone Records on marbled vinyl under catalog number ARLPMAR 116, and it arrives carrying more backstory than most records twice its age.
A Band Reclaiming Its Name
Queensryche built their reputation across the mid-to-late 1980s on melodic sophistication, technical precision, and a willingness to push hard rock into more ambitious conceptual territory. By the early 2010s, internal turmoil and years of stylistic drift had fractured the group entirely. At the time this album was recorded, two separate versions of Queensryche existed simultaneously, one featuring longtime vocalist Geoff Tate and another built around the remaining original members with new singer Todd La Torre. The legal dispute over the Queensryche name was resolved amicably in 2014, with Tate relinquishing his rights. This album, then, represents the moment the band staked its claim. It is not a transitional record or a stopgap. It is a statement.
What the Queensryche Queensryche (Marbled) Vinyl Actually Sounds Like
La Torre’s vocals are the immediate focal point. His range and delivery recall the soaring clarity of the band’s classic period without simply mimicking it, bringing genuine energy rather than nostalgia to the material. Tracks like “Where Dreams Go to Die” and “In This Light” demonstrate the tight, considered musicianship the band was known for, with layered guitar work and arrangements that breathe and develop rather than just charging forward. “Fallout” shifts the register, leaning into the kind of driving progressive metal texture that defined their earlier output. Across all eleven tracks, the songwriting is focused and intentional. This is a band that had something to prove and largely proved it.
The Pressing: Why This Copy
The original 2013 release came out through Century Media Records. This Alone Records edition, cataloged as ARLPMAR 116, gives collectors a marbled vinyl variant, which is a meaningful distinction from standard black pressings for those who care about what sits on the shelf as much as what comes out of the speakers. Marbled pressings from Alone Records tend to be produced in limited quantities, and a record with this much surrounding narrative, a band in legal dispute, a pivotal lineup change, a genuine return to form, is exactly the kind of release that rewards the collector who wants physical media to carry the weight of its context. If you have followed Queensryche through the complicated years, or if you are building a serious collection of progressive metal on vinyl, this pressing earns its place.
Tracklist
1. X2 2. WHERE DREAMS GO TO DIE 3. SPORE 4. IN THIS LIGHT 5. REDEMPTION 6. VINDICATION 7. MIDNIGHT LULLABY 8. A WORLD WITHOUT 9. DON'T LOOK BACK 10. FALLOUT 11. OPEN ROAD
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