FOR THE LOVE OF ART AND THE MAKING

Previoiusly Beyond Twilight has produced some long, dark and wonderful prog albums.

This album however is not just around a dark theme, but rather is a collection of most of everything we've heard in Prog-Metal these past years.

There are epic moments. There are heavy moments, there are passages with orchestrated instruments. There are passages with blazing keyboards. Some of it is slow, some of it fast, sometimes it plays to a beat, sometimes it plays without an obvious patter. It has passages with purpose and there are passages that are there just for the hell of it. There is wailing. There is laughing. It is operatic. It is simple. There are long breaks, there are short breaks. Sometimes it sounds like it has a purpose, sometimes it does not. It is symphonic, it is grinding. It is amazing.

The thing is that even through the mixing of all these different elements is that it is not a mess in sound arrangement. It really does not feel 'Random'. It sounds fresh.

Well executed and of high quality, a recommended addition. Seriously.

The third album from those guys makes me feel like "man, Beyond Twilight became a new highlight in the genre". I got introduced to them a few weeks ago, when I heard "Section X". It never really got me falling on my knees, but still made an album that's better than average progressive metal album. "The Devil's Hall of Fame" for instant was much better, but I've got to admit that Jorn's vocals are always the part, no matter where I hear them, that grabs me and never lets go.

Right, that was some introduction, now let's see what mr Zierler and co. give us in this release. Somehow, when I was ordering this cd, I never got the feeling, that maybe I'm wasting my money, maybe this album is highly overrated. I don't know, but I was concerned that this is one of those cd's, that are a must in every prog fan's collection. Well ladies and gentlemen - this is one of those cd's, and I don't really think that anyone will doubt that.

So, why "For the love of art and the making" is so special? Two words - song structures. As you probably already saw, the album contains of 43 tracks, which are forming one, about 37 minutes long composition, so when you start listening to this cd for a first or second time, without watching the tracker, you won't really realize when the passages between the tracks are. Well, there are some passages when the pause between tracks is clear, but most of the time as I said you'll be scratching your head what track are you listening to at the moment. And here we come to the highlight and the main conception of the album - when you set your player to shuffle mode, you'll get a totally new composition, that sounds really good and goes on without a problem. The passages won't be clear and fluent at every combination - that's for sure, but still the effect that you can get when mixing the tracks is amazing. And with 43 of them, the possibilities are truly grand. But forget the shuffle mode - the main attraction, as I see it, is building up the composition by yourself. Well, I haven't got much time so far for playing with it, so I didn't really come up with anything myself, but so far I'm concerned that those three structures that mr Zierler mentions are yet to discover by putting the tracks ("pieces of a puzzle") together in different ways, depending on compositions and lyrics. This is a truly unique concept in the world of music, and - I've gotta tell you - is great fun. I can't wait till I'll get some time to get deeper into the concept, and start builiding myself.

Well' that's about all about the concept and album structure. Now a few words about the music and vocals. It would be a really big shame if that kind of album composition would be ruined by medicore music. Luckily, Beyond Twilight gave us an another reason to smile. The music is superb, the motives that are frequently appearing (like "In the Eyes of My Soul") are composed in several different ways, so you got the feeling that you heard them before, but without beeing boredom. Boredom is excluded. The guys packed so much different tones and feelings in this 37 minutes, that it feels quite shocking. The album is calm, agressive, heavy and light as a feather, there are high peached screams and orchestral choirs, beauty and anger, man it has everything. The new singer presents himself quite well, his vocals are from those "heavy-power" shelves (he kinda reminds me of "Secret Sphere" singer, especially in those quiet moments, when you can feel his specific accent ;P), and fit the music quite well. One could have thought that the album would be truly grand with Jorn Lande on board, but I must say that it's not that type of album with much place for a spectacular voice show-offs. The vocals somehow melt with the music forming a balanced musical mass, that holds perfect level without leaning from side to side, if you know what I mean.

So what you should do? I'll tell you what - go to their homepage, download the sample, listen to it for a few times and get hooked (it contains the fantastic "this is for love of art and the making" vocal line from "In the Eyes of My Soul", plus the pounding music of "Sleeping Beauty - The Journey"). Then, order the album to help support the making of such quintessential music and, the most important part probably, to enjoy the Love that Beyond Twilight offers us. Reassuming, a TRUE masterpiece and without a doubt the best piece of music this year offered us.

Exciting may be the first word that came to my mind when I first received this new BT album, long-awaited sequel to Section X, one of the best prog-metal records that came out last year.

And I soon discovered that this excitement wasn't due to an unexpected overrating: this record kills. 38 minutes of full-fledged prog metal, with amazing keyboard and guitars playing, wondeful choirs and arrangements, strong lyrics along with new singer Bjorn Lansson's powerful vocals... A intricate and dark trip to the depths of one's mind, and to me, the best work Finn Zierler and crew released so far - I must say that it rushed right to the top of my "Best 2006 record" pretenders list, without fumbling upon any other record.

An astounding, amazing, ass-kicking record. Highly recommended.

Absolutely breathtaking.

This is prog at it's very best. The 40 minute epic starts strongly, and just doesn't let up until the very end. There is no filler material here, just 40 minutes of fantastic, heart- stopping excellence. I strongly urge all prog enthusiasts to purchase this album, it easily deserves a perfect 5 star rating, and in my opinion surpasses even the classics.

Was I expecting more (than I know it is now) of this album after reading all the reviews? In a way, I was expecting less. The truth is you won't be able to imagine what you're going to listen to until you spin the disc. I know I was pleasantly surprised, in a way. Considered in its entirety, we're not necessarily dealing with brilliancy here, but this album is (in a manner of speaking) close to being - well... - perfect. Four point seven.

If you are into prog metal, or if you are just looking for something interesting - simple, yet intricate and unpredictible - to listen to, you gotta try this one!

Truth is...regardless of how much showing off this band does on this album, this is freakin' amazing stuff!! Mindblowing.

Numerous themes and styles are introduced on the album. Hundreds and hundreds of them. This is one of the most diverse, innovative and complicated albums I've ever listened to. The album is about 38 minutes long, if this disc was near the 60-70 minutes like many other prog albums are I'm not sure that people would be able to digest it. To really give a full description of this album is something that could take years. Usually I don't like full lengths that are short, but this is for sure a good thing in this instance. The band hit you from all angles with their own style of haunting, very dark, progressive metal. They don't sound like any other but if I should try to desribe it - Imagine a mix of Symphony X, Dream Theater, Dimmu Borgir, Pain Of Salvation and Opeth. It is melodic, dark and symphonic but also brutally heavy at times. And yet mixed with the metal is some of the best keyboard work you'll find on a metal album. It is haunting.

Lyrics and music play important role to the album that is written like a puzzle. The concept is deep and takes a great deal of time to understand. No matter, when listening to this disc, the band impresses on all fronts. I'm sure I didn't even touch on 1% of what you'll find on this masterpiece.

Also impressive is the packaging, the artwork and production. Fans of the 2 previous releases will once again get surprised. Mastermind Finn Zierler is once again showing he is one of the greatest composers and keyboard players in progressive metal. A genious, his visions with Beyond Twilight couldn't be any clearer. A band that simply dominates their style!

Album of the year. This might well be it. At least it is my personal candidate for 2006. I haven't heard anything like this before. This album has it all. Each subsequent spin had me even more inspired at the outstanding musicianship and incredible arrangements. And I do mean incredible. This album is so packed with details that you'll find new things even after listening to it for a year. Unique and original. And I do mean original. When the boys break from the dark shouts and swirling controlled chaos, heavy guitars and move into a mind- boggling supreme technical performed piano piece, leaving you with the words "you are puzzled", the effect is breathtaking. Whether you are an accomplished musician or simply a listener of non-traditional heavy music, "For The Love Of Art And The Making" is most worthy of your attention. In terms of progmetal, this is as good as it gets.

One of the most intriguing albums, definitely something for everyone in here in one way or the other. This is my favorite album thus released in '06. These guys have set the bar real high, and it will be interesting to see if anyone can top them.

Whether or not you like the music, one must respect the creative aspect of this album. Even non traditional progressive listeners can find entertaining moments here, as you cant help but smile when you hear certain parts. The best part about the album is it gets better every time you play it, and its flexible enough to allow you to listen to any point of it and make the sections as random or fixed as you want. Highly recommended.

Let me first state that I am not a huge prog metal fan. I'm not saying that I don't like it, I'm just saying that for me, I have always swam in the power/death metal side of the pool. Then a friend persuaded me to purchase the new Beyond Twilight disc... I can only say that this album has completely capitivated me. I dare say that nothing else I ever buy or listen to will ever live up to the stunning genius of this masterpiece. Everything else I own pales in comparrison to "The Love Of Art And The Making". Personally, I enjoy listening to music at night, and through headphones. While doing so, this album swept me through a space-time continueum for 40 minutes. When I arrived back on earth, I was changed forever. Listening to the new Beyond Twilight will cause you to feel every emotion known to man. I simply cannot explain to you enough just how musically life altering this album is. Everyone who calls themselves metal should own a copy. End of story. A MASTERPIECE!!!

Well, I have the doubtful honor of being the first in give this album the 4 star rating. Let me tell you why:

This is the typical album not good enough to be a masterpiece but good enough to be more than a "excellent addition" to any prog music collection". So, why don't rate it with 5 stars? Well, masterpiece is a word too big for this recording. Don't get me wrong, this is an awesome album, the best of 2006 of all that I listen to; but it's a bit, only a bit, uneven. The first half of the cd is, to me, far superior to the second.

In the other hand we have to appreciate the strong points of the album, like is his amazing concept and the brilliant idea of make short pieces of music that can be listened independently. We have, an excellent keyboarder and an excellent vocalist too, and a strong and powerfull presence of the guitar playing, a wondeful work (rythm and lead).

In conclusion this is a must for every fan of prog-metal in the world and a must for every prog fan that can stand the hard distorsion of a guitar. "For The Love Of Art And The Making" is a refreshing album that can say, very proud, that is an album like anyone make before. Something that, "per se", is gratifying and only a few artist could offer nowadays.

The second review without 5 stars is Zitro's!

This album not only is innovative, complex, unique, and possible groundbreaking, but it is also intensively enjoyable. That said, it's uniqueness affects it negatively too. The album is divided into dozens of tiny pieces connected to each other to make a long song. It is innovative and unique as nobody did a song of short pieces where you can shuffle them and still get a somewhat coherent epic. Yes, I am not joking, though the overall coherence is slightly marred from doing this collection of little pieces that always have to gel with each other. Hopefully, they will master this use and make their masterpiece. Another thing to note is that it sounds like excellent horror music.

Perfect Beginnings: When I first heard this album, I thought I was really hearing the best metal album of all times as the first 5 pieces are flawless tiny masterpieces. The "In the Eyes of My Soul" theme is extremely majestic and is the best intro you can think of (and the best theme to be used in other parts in an album). The other four are perfect too: Creep Evil is spooky, the two Sleeping Beauty are guitar- heavy pieces of art and Purity gives me goosebumps. 10/10

Synths,Screams, and Interludes: After that, you get "Tongue Angel/I moved" where the synth riff is annoying (while the rest is amazing such as the synth solo). "Blackened" starts to turn me offwith the over-dramatic screaming vocals, though the guitar playing is good. The next four pieces seem different to each other and don't connect that well,especially when Fiery Woman starts. 7/10

Perfect Heart thru Caged Bird: We're now hearing slower tempos and more lovely arrangements. Perfect Hearts is nice, though underwhelming until pt3 which features a nice guitar melody. Black Widow is dark and recalls the horror music from the beginning of the album. Dark Wild Rage is a disappointing metal song that has Dream Theater influences combined with Symphonic arrangements. The Caged Bird song is a classical metal song with complex playful arrangements, doomy vocal harmonies and electric guitars. 7/10

Cold As Blue / Awakening : Now the album gets back on track with stronger pieces. Cold As Blue is apiano ballad with grunts and unusual vocals that leads perfectly into The Awakening's elegant piano and percussive brushes. Cold As Blue has Call and Response vocals with the same piano on the background. A tiny interludes helps Awakening pt2/pt3 finish with lovely melodies. 9/10

Weird and Creepy Part + in the eyes of my soul : I like the "in the eyes of my soul" with violins and faster tempo. Past Magic is interesting enough with it's electric guitar riff blending in with playful symphonic keyboards, pt2 continues it with rhythmic laughter that sounds like Phil Collins' "mama" song: not my cup of tea. After a creepy interlude, in the eyes of my soul returns and packs quite a punch, while not being too similar from the first piece of the album. 6 seconds past 6 is too random and doesn't make a lot of sense, especially when the piano starts. I don't know how to criticize it, but it just doesn't sound right and makes me feel puzzled. Organ Scientific Formula (1) is the most terrifying song of the record with the church organs, doomy electric guitars, and a multi-layered macabre laughter. The organ solo in the end is excellent and is accompained by frenzied rhythm guitars. 8/10

Finale: Night wandering starts again and the symphonic metal of 6 Black Roses pleases your ears if they wanted some rocking out. Autumn Fog Message has a great melodic guitar solo that is an element somewhat lacking in this album. Afterwards, the Black Box of Reverse is another part of "Sleeping Beauty" and is very bizarre with reverse recording effects (I think). The album finishes predictably with the great "In the eyes of my soul" main theme. 8/10

Great creative album, but I think they should focus more on coherence and listenable parts as well as melody. Nevertheless, if you are a music lover and want to try something new and challenging, get this album.

My Grade : B

I don't understand how this can be #1 in the prog-archives lis for 2006. Mediocre compositions, average and screaming singers and a very superficial approach to composition that makes the two long pieces look like a cut&paste session of their favourite bands.

i think that this album for be great for listening to once or twice, but it seems like they try too hard to be the great progressive metal band that they aren't. It starts off with what seems like a Symphony X (Divine Wings of Tragedy) spinoff where there are chorus vocals, and its just like shoving a handful of cheese into your mouth. Progressive albums aren't meant to become tiring but unfortunately this album is very tiring. The whole presentation and transition into different melodies is very unconvincing.

This is a decent album, but not one that's worth listening to more that 3 or 4 times.

Masterpiece. For The Love Of Art And The Making is without a doubt my favorite Beyond Twilight album. From the monsterous beginning of In The Eyes Of My Soul all the way to the hair raising Finale I'm simply spellbounded. This is a trend setting album in it's day and I'm sure this album will be talked about many years ahead in the future. This band deals with alot of different elements but also have a twisted edge to their sound. Dark atmosphere indulges you together with technical supreme performances. They sound like no other. Describing this album wouldn't make any sense for me. It is a listening experience you have to make on your own. A journey through countless different genres and layers of emotions. It sounds really good on the first listen and then it just grows, grabs you and haunts you. One of the most original bands not only in the progressive genre but general in metal. A must have for any metal listener.

I'll begin my review of BEYOND TWILIGHT's "For The Love Of Art And The Making" by saying I simply can not give this album anything less than 5 stars. I'm a huge fan/collector of prog metal, a practicing musician too. Ever since my ears heard the first few seconds of this album, I've been mystified by it ever since. I listen to a lot of music and it's intersting to me how prominent this album stands out among the crowd.

Simply put, this is the most creative album I think I've ever heard. Not only is it ridiculously creative and masterfully crafted, it's very heavy at moments. The musicianship is incredible and they use that mastery to take you on a whirling ride. From raging metal to a fairy tale symphony and everywhere in between.

The compositions sometimes are very strange and dissonate, such as the piano and guitar trill unison parts. This isn't mindless shredding though! Their themes reappear all through the album. The long trilling effect especially gets stuck in my head because it's something you usually do not hear in music today, but somehow BEYOND TWILIGHT pulls it off perfectly.

I can see how some may not enjoy the vocals on the album. But in my opinion, I don't see any other style of vocal working with this kind of music. The vocals are powerful but I wouldn't consider them screaming. I tend to enjoy vocals that are very soulfull and powerful such as Tom Englund from Evergrey, but I am impressed with Björn Jansson's performance on For The Love Of Art And The Making. He's capable of reaching very high notes as well as laying back and laying some soulful textures to the overall theme.

I could go on and on about how much I've enjoyed this album but I will leave you with this... The first time I heard this album, I thought I was listening to one of the best prog metal albums I've ever heard. Since then and after many, many more listens. I haven't changed my mind. In my humble opinion, this album is a treasure to behold. A must have for any prog metal fan.

I was never a fan of Beyond Twilight. I had heard some material from years past, and it was not my kind of metal. I heard about this new album which was one big song, divided up into 43 tracks, which could supposedly be shuffled for a new experience every time. Intriguing, but I wasn't going to pounce on it. However, I did look out for reviews on the archives to see how it was received by others. After having maitained a 5.00 rating through nearly twenty reviews, I decided it was worth checking out. The sample from the band's website was proof enough that this had purchase-worthy quality. I was very surprised. It was so epic and powerful, and it was only three minutes of the song! The new vocalist surely outdid whoever worked with them before. He had a "metal" voice, but it was, thankfully, more than just that. The feeling and melody coming from the vocals were excellent. The music was complex, but not bombastic.

So I bought the album, and for the most part, it delivered on the hype it was getting. The sections are a little choppy and slightly incoherent later on in the album, but not terribly so. I'm not sure of this either, but I hope that the orchestra (or orchestral instruments) are really being performed by an orchestra. The linear notes make no note of it though. That would be the only other downfall here. Either way, it still sounds great, so I won't complain. Thoguh it may seem to be at first, it is not the greatest heavy metal album ever made (but it sure could have been). It is very epic and intriguing. Unfortunately, the shuffle feature doesn't always work. You have to meticulously place the tracks in a logical order for it to work. It is a cool idea though.

In conclusion, a powerful epic that metal fans (prog or not) really ought to check out. Along with the new Underoath, it's the biggest surprise of 2006 thus far. 4.5 stars rounded down.

PROG METAL JEWEL.With its third release,BEYOND TWILIGHT makes an incredible shot.The 43 amazing tracks mixed every musical genres that you can imagine.Dark industrial,electronic influences,black metal drumshots,acoustic passages,classical piano interludes,clean/growl vocals,stunning guitars and many more.Absolutely progressive.Absolutely essential.Five stars minimun to this cd.Keep it immediatly.

The best album of 2006 for me, and one of the bests ever. Chef d´oeuvre not only in progressive metal, but in all genres.

To the reasons yet written I will add the enormous complexity of the lyrics, as you can see in:

- The relationship between the words "Ferrarius Verbero Aestus Ferratilis", that open the album, and the myth of Hephaestus, god of the smiths and of everything else which requires fire for working.

- The references to the "sleeping beaty", a symbol of the unconscious.

- The constant reference to ancient EMBLEMES, once in Latin tongue ("Bilingues Cavendi": One Should Beware Of The Double-tongued), and other times in English: "Die rather than betray trust", "He who exalts himself will be humbled", "the fruit of sin is bitter", "When struck I rise".

- The words "6 to 1, Much unless in medical terms of mathematics" (I think it is a play on words with "sextuple" and "sex-tuple").

- In general, the conception of this work translates to music de idea of Milorad Pavic´s Dictionary of the Khazars, a novel that can red from any page and in any direction, like a puzzle that the reader must complete.

Five stars.

Another hyper-overated album. Despite all the pretencious track listing and lyrics, the music itself does not go far the traditional and completely out-of-date heavy-metal structures with mediocre symphonic arrangements played without any sign of passion. They are in a terrain bands like Symphony X, Andromeda, Evergrey, Eternity X, Fates no More and many many more (almost uncountable) embraced many years ago.

There is no much to say about the music, its lack of direction is intoxicating. The best part is reserved to the pianos, but still played too technical and less feeled.

Just one more album to join the infinitness of albuns using the original Dream Theater/Symphony X formulas.

Beyond Twilight's ambitious third album gets my pick for best prog album of 06. For the Art of Love and making is a 38 minute suite divided into 43 very short tracks. I feel that it simply should have been one track, but that's beside the point and it doesn't affect the album at all. Thank God iTunes now offers gapless playback or else this would have driven me insane. Björn Jansson's vocals are superb, going from clean to growls to piercing screams. The rest of teh band delivers one of the heaviest prog metal albums of the year, alongside Christ 0. The greatest part of this album is that it hooks you on the first listen. It's a lot more enjoyable than a lot of prog albums.

The album's dizzying time changes and counter-melodies can leave you drooling.The album starts off with chanting that sounds like Ave Maria. Then the guitars come in for the spooky Creep Evil before pummeling you. Six minutes later, synths come in that momentarily break the flow, but the solo is great. The rest of the album alternates between heavy guitars and slightly softer synths, but it never gets truly soft.

If Beyond Twilight continues to make creative and (gasp!) enjoyable music, they'll be making masterpieces in no time.

Grade: B+

To talk about Beyond Twilight´s For the love of art and the making in the Archives, one can´t help recall thouse first 15 reviews...5 stars. This album had for a while, a good while also, only 5 star ratings, more than a month I believe. I remember it well, cause I even started a thread in the forum to talk about this album, when I didn´t even own it. Then the 4 stars rating drop in and all went back to normal. Now this album has a good rating, but I fear too low for what it is... yet, I have discided not to give it a 5 star either... so... I am part of the problem too... damn it... Still, this is one goooood album!!!

Ok, now, back to the actual rating... you know when you listen to an album knowing it´s gonna be good, but when you actually listen to it it blows you out of your chair (and head) and it´s even better than what you thought it would be? Well...take that, inject it with steroids and you´ll have an idea of what this album did to my ears! No joke, this album really did that to me, and there is so much going on in this 37 minutes, that it´s almoust impossible you wion´t feel the same, at least for a few seconds (if not the whole thing).

It seems to me Beyond Twilight was just another power prog metal band like so many others before this album...and I think Zierler, the keyboardist, main composer and band leader knew that. He also knew that to stand out in this genre one must do something BIG, something that makes us do "aaaahhhs.." and "uuuhhhs...". Opeth did it with it´s brutal/soft combo of songs, Pain of Salvation with their concept albums, Green Carnation with their 60 minutes long song...and Zierler thought "Now, how can I be on that same level of popularity? Of course " he thought " I´ll make a 37 minutes long song, divided in 43 pieces, which can be heard in any order and still work!" And so he did (actual facts may vary). The result... mindblowing, the metal album of the year and a sure curse for them, cause now, that they have done it and they did it goood...where can they go? I mean, can you go any further, can you break more boundaries as a band after this? I surely hope you can, but it´s gonna be very hard for them...

But hey, I didn´t say anything about the actual music? Well...picture a power prog band... now, forget the fact that most bands in that style suck! Then take a confusing but original concept, throw some exceptional keyboard playing in the mix, some latin here and there, goosebumps sections and...voila! Yet, this could all lead to disaster way to easily, well, just to make sure it doesn´t, add Finn Zierler as main composer of the piece and you can bet this album is nothing else but one hell of an album.

WHY 43? NOT MORE OR LESS?

The band's third studio album "For The Love Of Art And The Making" is one of the weirdest stuff has my ears ever received. Cut into 43 pieces of short passages, the album itself doesn't reveal the reason to be divided into that many pieces, and however all the elements and parts are not as much as seperated as it would have been. For example, track 11 "sweet irony" starts with a mind-blowing heavy riff but is extinguished in the half and the transition between is real poor. Why these 2 parts are not cut? Hell I don't know.

Although there are many brilliant ideas, elements, melodies and composition throughout the album, all this stuff is so generously spent that you can not digest a single one before the track ever changes. If the album were any longer (actually much more longer) I could accept this trash-binlike use of melodies (it would be comprehensible to be cut in order to fit into a CD's length), but ladies and gentlemen, it stands just funny for me to see a 37 minute-long album with 43 tracks. Again track 11 as an example (no, I did not only listened to "sweet irony" before writing this review, lol) the beautiful idea in track's intro is played once and is lost. Where did it go? Nope, I don't know!

Beyond all this, if you compose something in the same key throughly, and if you know a little harmony, when it is divided, all parts that are randomly brought together will fit. And will fit better than its un-cut counterpart in track 11!!!! (I really am disturbed by this track, haha!)

Eschatalogically, the album is like a trash-bin to me, which all the ideas and melodies are thrown into, and composed some nonsense. The tragic part is that if this album were to be 6 or 7 tracks at all it would have received at least a 4 star-rating from me.

3,5 stars actually.

I would qualify this Beyond Twilight album as ... pretentious.

As usual, brilliant musicianship by the whole band, but this album is not an epic as it aims to be. Not enough consistency for my taste, many filler riffs, incoherent passages sometimes linking in a sensless way. It's like the band (or Finn Zieler) got to a point where the creative flow was so intense it bursted out savagely... You can feel arrangements, specially keyboards, were added to fill some apparent voids, and I think "For The Love Of Art And The Making" could have been one excellent 20-minute epic in a more complete album, like the last of a 5-to-6-track masterpiece.

Still, I can't deny the many qualities this good album carries. Some excellent riffs, remaining simple and effiscient escaping clichés and some amazing rythmics along the way, with nice drumming. A mix of heavy metal, classical, goth, and even some jazz. Great production for a hard album, with precise sounds and perfect balance, even if some parts are too "crowded" for my taste.

Compared to their two other albums, especially the excellent "The Devil's Hall Of Fame", this album is a logic continuation, but in my opinion a step lower. Riffs need to be a bit more elaborated with less brutal E-based déja-vu riffs.

This album still deserves to be listened to carefully as it is a good album in many ways.

ive owned this album for a while now and have moved from fan boy to hater and now bck to somewhere in the middle. its a very very unique and interesting concept, though i feel that its not completely realized. ill keep this short, there are already too many reviews to chose from but i would like to articulate some of my problems with this disc. first off i really do not like the use of synthesized (very obviously) orchestra, played on the keyboards. it detracts from the album very much, IMO pushing it over that edge from maybe pretentious to definatley cheesy. it is also very formulmatic. keeping to the same path paved by smph.X and DT while the scyzophranic song changes can also get annoying at times. all of these points aside it is well done and far from "Bad". i like the vocals and particularly enjoy the first three or four songs very much, the production is very glossy, very polished witch in this case helps the disc. overall, good. nothing very special though. a creative attempt at moving beyond the likes of symphony x and their power metal peers.

This album could've been a great album, since the instrumental parts are overall brilliant. But unfortunately Beyond Twilight still hasn't found a man to back up their incredibly high vocal ambitions since Jorn Lande. However much Björn Jansson tries to immitate the original's voice(listen to Perfect Heart, it's almost scary), and add something of his own to the mix, it still doesn't live up to the quality of the rest of the music.

It's one of those albums that I really DO want to like, but the singing really does take away all the joy I could've felt for this otherwise fantastic album.

3 Stars, but with a different singer it might have gone as high as 5.

This album has many scattered moments of genius, but it isn't a satisfying experience overall. The concept of 43 tracks is a great idea, but it just doesn't work in practice. Sadly, this album is brought down to an average level by its inaccessible structure and inconsistence of quality.

On the brighter side, the creative genius of The Devil's Hall Of Fame and Section X is also present here. However, it seems to be without a solid, focused concept to accompany it (like the stories served in the other two albums). Either way, this isn't a generic progressive metal album and it is worth getting (but isn't necessary), if only for the moments of pure genius in melody, emotion and style.

For The Love Of Art And The Making is the most mysterious and complex concept album in Music History. After several months puzzling about it, I think I´ve found something. IMHO, this album develops 6 CONCEPTS, or layers of concepts, simultaneously:

A first meaning (MYTH), with a storybook that continues where Section X ended, relating a "virtual descent to Hell" somehow inspired in Orpheus and Eurydice and the legend of Ariadne, the Labyrinth and the Minotaur.

Three meanings more (RITE), in witch the structure of the album is related to that of an initiation rite, musical creation and BDSM.

A fifth meaning (MEMORY) that shows us Beyond Twilight´ history, in its foundation´s tenth anniversary.

And a sixth meaning (TRUTH AND JUSTICE), about the falsehood of Jorn Lande´s words about Section X.

But there´s more, much more: number 6 as a symbol, baroque emblems, Stravinski and Liszt, Paul Dunbar´s poetry, egyptian goddess Ma´at.

Absolute masterpiece!

For the Love of Art and the Making came out of nowhere last year, at least for me, and I know a lot of forum members were stunned at how this album by somewhat unheard of prog-metal band (Beyond Twilight) was gearing to be one of the top rated releases off 2006. So, I wanted to see what the hype was. I've not heard anything else by Beyond Twilight, but after hearing this, I think I might. I'm not sure if I knew that the album would have the chaotic setup it has when I ordered it, but I'm glad I wasn't deferred in some other way. For the Love of Art and the Making is full of gorgeous melodies and creative riffs, even if they are not always strung together in the most condusive way. But given the premise for this album (being able to randomize the track order for a different listening experience each time--something I've not done yet), I think it works very well. I think the album is much more tasteful than any recent Dream Theater or Symphony X album (though Paraduse Lost cut back on the cheese significantly), without the constant showoff soloing which becomes far less impressive as one becomes more familiar with that type of songwriting. For the Love of Art and the Making feels much more orchestrated, with flourishes, dynamics, movements, recurring themes, and a variety of orchestrated synths (tasteful, mind you) mixing with heavy metal guitars very well. The album always manages to keep my attention, though one might see this as a sort of Attention Deficit Disorder with music, as it seems to jump from theme to theme constantly. This chaos is both good and bad, because there are fleeting moments which I wish would stay longer than they do. Luckily, there aren't any poor moments I wish to be over with before they wear out their welcome. It all works together, both the sometimes brutal and often beautiful aspects of the music. For the Love of Art and the Making was on my list of top Progressive music from 2006 and it should be a great listen for a fan of melodic and somewhat orchestrated progressive metal.

It is really remarkable that albums like this one can bring something new and innovative in todas's music!It's really essential that music moves forward with this kind of albums,and this music must be autitioned by any amateur of what is new and original!Nowadays is extremelly rare to bring a touch of inovation and to dare to break some barriers and to cross some boundaries in terms of creativity and imagination!Definitelly the musicians from the North of Europe,and I speak here about the Scandinavian countries have the will to push a little the musical scene with all kinds of musical directions,in metal especially- trash...power...death...black and,of course,progressive! !BEYOND TWILLINGT is something like a fresh breath in music,and they don';t fallow any musical traces,they have their own way trying permenently to surprise their fans and not only...Well,if we realise the fact that the sensational JORN LANDE was on the first album of the band,of course,we have great expectations from the actual vocalist,which is not bad at all,but sometimes I've got the feeling that he really tries to immitate Jorn,because BEYOND TWILIGHT's music sounds like it's been made for Jorn's amazing voice!FOR THE LOVE OF THE ART AND THE MAKING has so many tracks,and it's almost a torture to read all the titles,musical interludes-that's a little more...too much for the simple purpose to make even more complicated the message of this unique,in it's way,album!We have plenty of sensational moments,the basis for the music,the roots come from black metal sometimes and pure metal ingredients too,and the fabulous imagination of the mastermind of the band FINN ZIERLER .The orchestration,instrumentation is-in my opinion-....far superior to the voice of the vocalist!Sometimes thetre are too many musical ideas in a single song and that makes the audition a little pretentious,but in a good direction!Definitelly,it's metal,but it's not at all 100 % prog metal,it's almost impossible to classify it... and that's good!Almost unbelieveble the timing of the album- 37 minutes,because in the end we have the feeling that the album auditioned had at least 1 good hour!Very recomandable album,not an easy listening ,but it worth the effort at 100 %!!! 4 STARS for an ambitions musical direction!

To give this four or three stars? Well, I feel inclined to give it three but the concept and ambition forces a four. Intended, I suspect as a single track, this reasonably short album has 43 parts that make up one 38 minute song. Just that the song as it is presented in the order it is isn't that fantastic - musically yeah it's pretty sound, there's plenty that gets said, but the short track length and noticeable transitions between tracks makes the flow unsettling, (which is a part of prog I'll admit, but here seems forced and a bit lazy). The four star rating stands because ideally it can be reordered in almost any way and still make cohesive sense. That shows ambition and for a surprising change,quite a bit of audience participation - though this novelty isn't enough to really pull together the effort however vast into a masterpiece. It's clever and instrumentally engaging at times, though it may not appeal to everyone on equal terms, myself - I don't really love it, but its showing that there is still uncovered territory in prog land, and it's always good to see something original come out.

Beyond Twilight came up with a pretty original idea - to create a prog metal opera consisting of 43 short interconnected fragments that are basically a bunch of solos (some of them shorter than the time needed to read their titles), that could be rearranged and still deliver a coherent listen. And this isn't as unrealizable as it may sound, but the secret is that the original order had to not be exactly seamless in the beginning, so the reshuffled version isn't that much more disjointed.

As for stlistics, this is a very bombastic classically inspired heavy metal work but is generally less dark and unsettling than the first two albums by this artist. It's a pity they haven't been heard from in a long time.

After two incredible albums of high-quality progressive metal, Danish band Beyond Twilight shoot themselves in the foot by getting a bit too artsy and fancy with 2006's 'For the Love of Art and the Making'. The clue is clearly there in the title. At 38 minutes in length, and featuring 43 tracks, each barely a minute long, the idea behind this release is that the tracks can be played in any order and, depending on how you listen to it, it supposedly can bear different meanings each time.

Yeah, alright.

Can anyone truly say they listened to this more than a couple of times without losing interest? Just as you start to enjoy one segment it skips straight to the next. And everything is so disjointed, no matter what order you play it in. In fact, I tried it a couple of times in random orders, and nothing flows smoothly at all. Additionally, it's near-impossible to really understand any of what's going on without actually knowing the lyrics. Bugger that!

It's a huge shame, as Beyond Twilight's previous two releases, 2001's 'The Devil's Hall of Fame' and 2005's 'Section X' are genuinely fantastic albums. These guys are amazing musicians and have an instantly distinctive sound of their own. And while the idea behind 'For the Love...' is interesting and massively ambitious, they just weren't able to make anything substantial come out of it.

I give the album two stars simply because there is some great musicianship and performances, and there are a couple of moments that are pretty neat (if, by pretty neat, you don't mind songs that last barely a minute). But overall, this album is a huge disappointment, and at the time of writing this review the band haven't done anything since. Coincidence? I doubt it. Art for art's sake? Art over substance? Whatever. This album sucks.

More than 16 years have passed since its release, and this work of art is still fresh and exciting. A perfect mix of creativity and intuition. The album never made me say, "Hey, this part could've been better...", or even "Hey, awesome, but..."

This masterpiece is vastly intricate, labyrinthine, complex; yet it still flows mesmerizingly. An adventurous trip inside the peculiarly dark (with a twilight glow) intellect of the band's mastermind: Finn Zierler. It is actually like a "twilightning"; not because of the fact that the album's duration is short, but because it dispreads a zigzagged line through the sky, none of whose transition points gives a disjointed feeling. What makes this different from a lightning is that, some shadowy phenomena can/'t be observed within this zone. Anyway, all the constituents in the album were so craftily appended that you'd do anything not to lose a piece of this puzzle. A bedazzling experience is granted, nor is this all, one is also granted with the key(s) to be able to get away from this maze. Do you have a clue? If not, you can use those keys to unlock the mysteries inside this labyrinth. I personally wouldn't mind doing that forever!

FtLoAatM is so timeless and rejuvenative that, the genius Finn Zierler's inactivity to produce further stuff (albeit except for his "solo" album: ESC) or his decision to discontinue Beyond Twilight aren't posing a real problem.

As I always say: It is always better to produce nothing if you don't feel like doing it, or if you don't feel motivated and inspired enough (and also if you happen to decide doing "djent", hahah).

Art for art's sake, for [%*!#]'s sake!

P.S. I'll always be delighted to hear new stuff by F. Zierler, but even if he decides not to produce anything anymore, I still thank him wholeheartedly for creating some of the most stellar albums ever; the most prominent of which is this final Beyond Twilight album. Or is this really the "Finale"?..

Impeccable craftsmanship

10/10

43 songs on one short album? Sounds gimmicky. But the tracks flow together to create something very close to a masterpiece.

Other than the huge number of very short tracks, there's nothing real unique about this music. That, and the short length, are the only things keeping this from being a perfect album. It's solidly in the progressive metal camp, with some hints of power metal and plenty of classical influences. Stays fairly heavy throughout, without getting too heavy. Wonderful clean metal vocals, handling a wide range. With 43 tracks, things change quickly, and there is not a single second of boredom here. The music is not apologetic about being metal or about being progressive, but unlike a lot of other progressive metal it is by no means a Dream Theater clone. These are very talented musicians but there's never a focus on showing off--the music is very tightly written.

I've only listened to this six or seven times. Maybe eventually this will join my short list of five star albums. For now, though, an excellent 4.5. Highly recommended for fans of progressive metal.