Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Seven Side Diamond - Enigma CD (album) cover

ENIGMA

Seven Side Diamond

 

Crossover Prog

3.80 | 96 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Marty McFly
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
5 stars Fast paced, very wild album that sounds like a very special trip of a bit drunken Progster that is trying to incorporate as many melodies as possible. I'm aware that being drunk is usually associated with negative connotations, but in this case, our drunkard of an album have a very clear mind, with which he is positioning layers of this big structure that we, for a lack of better words, call Prog.

Lovely, thoroughly intricate, vigorously shining (maybe because they hail from Brazil, remember Bigorna) and I somehow can't help but get a feeling of a new Echolyn album from this Enigma. Which is not exactly an enigma, because it's album everyone can enjoy, there's nothing inaccessible, mysteriously hidden in difficult listening there.

One thing of importance, this music is heavily dominated by piano sounds, together with "lushness" of other instruments. Maybe that's not a proper term, but in this case, why not, its sound is really full, with heavy bass growling (this word fits perfectly into what the bass here is doing), occasional keyboards (they aren't as dominant as in most of other Prog acts and are because of that they appears muffled a bit) and of course, vocal work that is far from being flat and unemotional, with what sounds to me like a well sung English (not much accent, but then again, I'm not a native speaker). There are parts where acoustic guitar plays gentle intros/outros - rare, but nice. In this complex. Drums are sometimes lost in the lushness though, but they are there.

60 minutes, fine line between too short and too long of an album, because there is something like a theme, leitmotif that is used (with variations) on a few spots. Also, because of previously mentioned facts and opinions, Enigma is a very consistent album.

ProgArchives, in contrast to many other internet communities, is a very special place. With its age distribution, it has much higher average (35?) than for example gaming forums, where 20 or so would be my guess. I'm one of those younger generations, who have a disadvantage not to live in 70s (and see/hear/live it through myself). However, as I am thoroughly listening Prog for last 4 years, trying to make up for it and compensate somehow. The point of this paragraph, except the fact that it can serve as a quick study, is that I have heard quite a few hundreds of artists, with many thousands albums. The more I listen, the more sparsely I use 5 star rating. Yet here, without hesitation or a slightest doubt, I use it.

5(-), the right direction of a modern Prog ?

Marty McFly | 5/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this SEVEN SIDE DIAMOND review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.