THE SEA WITHIN

The only release from this supergroup, a 2-disc album, one only has to look at the main songwriters to know what this will sound like. Stolt and Reingold, both of the The Flower Kings, do the majority of the songwriting. Fans of The Flower Kings will likely be happy with this. Fans of, say, Daniel Gildenlöw, the mastermind behind Pain of Salvation, will be less happy, although they'll likely enjoy most of Disc 2. Yes, Gildenlöw sings on most songs, and he does have a good voice. But the best songs here are the ones he helped write.

It's true that Gildenlöw was (very briefly) a member of The Flower Kings, and so this is, in a way, a bit of a reunion album of the 2003 Flower Kings. More Yes than Pain of Salvation, I'd place this solidly in the symphonic prog camp. There's almost no progressive metal influence here--none on Disc 1 and just a little on Disc 2.

Disc one isn't anything special. The songs aren't particularly bad but other than a few nice moments it's not compelling music. Perhaps symphonic prog fans would disagree. Disc 2 has some nice songs, and those redeem the album. Three of those four songs on Disc 2 are written, in part, by Gildenlöw, and the one that isn't sounds like it could have been, with more emotion and better vocals than anything on Disc 1. Highlights here include "Where Are You Going," which sounds a bit like a soft Pain of Salvation song. "Time" continues in the same vein, with a tiny hint of progressive metal shining through. "Denise" is pretty much a soft Pain of Salvation song.

I'm not certain all versions of this contain Disc 2--so if you're buying this, verify it comes with both discs. Had Disc 2 been released separately as an EP I would be probably rate it 4.0 or 4.5 stars. But Disc 2 is extremely short, Disc 1 is long, and this is, at best, a 3.5 star album.