FLOATING WORLD

This is an interesting release, with lots of rich musical moods and to a certain extent original sounds. But it is not a good album per se, but hopefully a promising start where seeds of forthcoming greatness can be heard.

Musically we're speaking progressive metal, mixed with lots of ambient sounding moods; where the synth seems to be the central focus of the musical output. Despite of that; Ayreon was the closest musical reference I could make for this release - perhaps due to the science fiction story on display as well as the grandiosity of the soundscape served here.

What doesn't work in my point of view is the structure and coherence of some of the individual songs, as well as soundscapes that sometimes contain too many sounds fighting to be heard.

This is Hugo Flores new project called PROJECT CREATION. I just reviewed "Out Of Place" by his former band called SONIC PULSAR. Both bands are fairly heavy and Hugo is really into concept albums, so that's what we get here with "Floating World", all 71 plus minutes of it. He's enlisted Linx on vocals. Linx sang on the "Snooze" album by FORGOTTEN SUNS. All three of these bands i've mentioned are from Portugal by the way.

"The Floating World" opens with lots of atmosphere.The guitar starts to make some noise before 1 1/2 minutes then it kicks in. Nice bass 4 minutes in and cello follows. Later on we get some heaviness with piano. "Living Under A Blue Sky" sounds good especially the fat bass lines and the guitar work. Sax and a calm before 2 1/2 minutes. Synths follow then it kicks back in. "The Desert Planet" opens with piano, cello and atmosphere. Some female vocal melodies and drums too. "The Civilzation" opens with spacey synths. It kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes. Vocals follow. Contrasts continue. "Mechanical Dragonflies" features more atmosphere and some flute and female vocals. Drums start to create a beat. Male vocals late. "Arriving" opens with sax and other sounds including deep bass after a minute. Male then female vocals follow. "Warming Up To The Machines" builds until we get some passionate vocals and bass. A big finish on this one. "Artificial Satellite" features percussion, flute and atmosphere. It kicks in at 1 1/2 minutes. Great sound ! Vocals join in. It settles 4 1/2 minutes in but it's still powerful.

"Intervening" is a short piece consisting of atmosphere and synths throughout. "Creating Atmosphere" is something this band has done lots of on this album. Of course this song also has lots of it. "First Species" is really more of the same. It picks up after a minute then settles 4 minutes in. "The Shining Planet" again opens with atmosphere this time guitar makes some brief noise and keys come in. Female vocals arrive.It kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes. I like the guitar before 3 minutes. Male vocals follow.More great guitar before 4 minutes. "Cheops" opens with flute and atmosphere. Spoken words then reserved vocals. It does get fuller then settles again. "Returning Home" opens with piano then the drums join in. Vocals as the sound gets fuller. Tasteful guitar 3 minutes in. It settles as contrasts continue.

Good album. I really like all the atmosphere but overall this album has failed to captured my imagination.