PLAYING THE UNIVERSE

The music performed by this Portuguese band ranges from prog metal to symphonic. And I have to admit that they are doing it with style thanks to several compositions which are very well crafted like the very good opener "Radio Silent".

The good impression lasts for more than this. A song as "Dreamscapes" is really worth: aerial keyboards and a nice melody are the body of this instrumental track which gives another angle to the music of "Sonic Pulsar" and demonstrates that the band plays diversified music. Another good instrumental but more guitar oriented ("Sonic Pulsar") also allows an enjoyable moment.

Vocals (in English) are quite decent as well, and the use of keyboards makes the whole melodic if not spacey at times. This album is almost the work of the leader Hugo Flores and his song writing is more than acceptable ("Sending Dead Flowers").

This album is pleasant so far, and "Wasting" is another good song which can be related to "Ayreon": bombastic and heavier. Again, keyboards are quite elegant amongst these metal guitar lines and some smooth vocals are welcome at mid time.

There are even acoustic moments available under the form of "Old Man's Tale" which is a short rock ballad. Very nice acoustic guitar work for this gentle piece of music which sounds drastically different from the heavy atmosphere of the uniform and repetitive "In Slow Motion" which is one of the weakest track.

On the other end, the wonderful instrumental "This Is Not A Jam Session" is a highlight. The guitar play is absolutely awesome and the heavy pace is even mixed with spacey passages. Very catchy.

After two average songs, the music gets back more interesting with the closing suite made of two parts: "Playing Tthe Universe..." and "...Somewhere In The Universe". Actually these are two songs which flows one into the other with brilliance and offer a fine combination of prog metal instrumental, and some good neo style.

I was a bit sceptic before my listening: over seventy minutes can be longish or even boring; but this is by no means the case with this album. Seven out of ten (but upgraded to four stars). A nice discovery.