PARAMOUNT

And a very aptly titled one. It's years that I have come across an album that moved and impressed and entertained me so much at the same time - this is the one. This is songwriting at its best, you'll hardly find more tastefully crafted songs in prog music. Here the music matured beyond inserting show- off parts (just think of the faults of Dream Theater, Flower Kings, Ayreon etc.). Everything you get to hear serves the main purpose: the perfect valuable composition! And for the first time there is human warmth conveyed by SE's music - they matured beyond hiding feeling behind the technical aspects of the music. The music even suits the vocals better. On ...NAVIGATING... I listened to Arno Menses with reservations. On Paramount he proves how good he is. Definitly the best singer they ever had - and the others weren't bad. This is the best album SE ever released, IMHO. Here is the rating song by song:

WHEN ALPHA AND OMEGA COLLIDE: the quintessential track, the whole album stuffed into one piece. Hard riffs, softer passages, very good vocals.(5/5)

TIDAL: starts off even harder than the opener. The hard riffs are soon exchanged for beautiful vocal lines that make you want to sing along and that's no fault, not even in prog music (5/5).

EYES WIDE OPEN: a fully fledged ballad. Simple but very beautiful. This is what Blue Wide Open from ...NAVIGATING..., was meant to be. (5/5)

ICONIC: a controlled song about the statue of Jesus on the mountain near Rio de Janeiro. music and lyrics not quite my cup of tea. (3/5)

WHERE OUR SHADOWS SLEEP: this is SE at their best again. A melody you can bask in, vocal lines you can only dream of. Description is useless - listen to it. (5/5)

DUENDE: A faster track, cleverly placed after three slower ones. Has a slight Spanish touch to it, if I'm not mistaken. In one instance they are singing about magic songs of inspiration, could have been the title of the album. (5/5)

BRIDGE TO THE DIVINE: a beautiful song with a catchy chorus - singalong time again. Or better not, listen to the masters. (5/5)

LEFTOVERS: the slow, concerned track of the album. A track full of inspiration in the details, the secret highlight. Easy to overlook it, with all those quality compositions here but it'd be a shame. (5/5)

MOUNTING CASTLES IN THE BLOOD RED SKY: an instrumental graced with intersections from M.L.King's famous speech. Cool idea! (4/5)

PARAMOUNT: What can be the ending of such an incredible album? SE's solution is to simply put the best track last. This track simply diminiuates everything else on the album. The massive riff that builds up the chorus and the carefully timed vocal line soaring over it . The way everthing pulls and pushes against each other: this chorus is continental drift set to music. An unforgettable experience.

So, if you have liking for good compositions instead of heading blindly for long tracks or technical show- offs - then this is probably the record for You. And to You it is Very Highly Recommended!

5 stars.

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