THE END IS BEGUN

A friend gave me this CD and said it was prog metal. I'm not so sure about that one...but one thing I am sure of is I did not like the album at all. After another listen or two this album quickly made its way near the bottom of my collection. I recently decided to dust this album off and give it another try. It grew on me, I will admit, but it is merely an average album.

First, I hated his vocals. I still do not like them, but I grew to ignore them. Still, I find them very annoying, kind of whiny at times. Shame, because the music is not too bad. They are talented musicians, not only at their respective instruments but at song writing. The album starts off strong.

Opens with a flamenco guitar and some gentle synth, that slowly builds. The second half of the song is really good and ends on a good note. It goes right into "The End is Begun" which may be my favorite track on the album. Some really cool guitar work, (especially that acoustic) and some double bass drumming! The middle section is mainly vocals, but the second half is strong and has a killer solo. "Battle Cry" has a really great riff, and some cool drumming to go with it. Again, middle is a bit dull and vocals annoy me, but ends well. "All That Remains" starts off cool, but is quite boring over the song.

"My Divided Falling" may be the second best on the album. Cool, intense song with some decent variation, and great instrumentation from everyone involved. Also, awesome solos!

The second half of the album falls off a bit of a cliff. Just a bit of one...There are some cool parts, riffs but overall a lot of the songs are just bland and pop sounding. It is a shame because there really are some great sections. However, overall mot of the songs fail to hold my attention, and again the vocals are very off putting.

Overall, a mediocre album. The first half starts off quite strong and is pretty interesting, but the second half is very bland, generic, and pop sounding. Standard through and through. The vocals get on my nerves, and a lot of songs are just boring. Talented musicians and can make some good music, and do show some good composition skills...but seem to squander it over the second half. All that added up, leaves this album smack in the middle.

Two and a Half Stars

BUMP: Three Stars