MANY DIRECTIONS

On the third release by German based project Heartscore, there are some interesting experiments; but also quite a few that are slightly flawed.

Most of the tunes are metal-influenced tunes, most times dominated by asynchron or quirky guitar riffs and/or rhythms; creating slightly original moods and melodies. Some tunes have other influences though; and the most successful tune on the album, the 10 minute long final composition The Miller's Wife, is one of those. A symphonic number with folk and classical influences, it's the clear highlight here.

The main weakness n this release are the vocals; both style and performance tends to be a mismatch with the melody much too often. Fans of quirky and experimental music might have an interest in this one though, especially those feeling that vocal performance is of secondary importance.

Really super album well worthy of the bucks. The album itself contains some really well written and performed mainly short tracks done in great progressive rock style. The interesting thing about the album Many Directions is that it really lives up to its expectations in diversity and does indeed flow in many directions with its path. Even the shortest track "Many Red Devils" at some 1 minute and 51 seconds, has more directions than most 20 minute long epics I have ever come across in the world of Prog Rock.

The album does have a Gentle Giant feel to most of the material that can be found upon it, and if your into those, you will certainly like what this album has to offer that's for sure. Other tracks such as "Richard Cory" "There's Been a Death in the Opposite House" "Credo" and "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed" are amongst the highlights here, and the album ends off with a 10 minute classic with "The Miller's Wife" and is my personal favourite of the great album, and even has a Gryphon feel about it too.

To sum up the album Many Directions by Heartscore. There is no doubt that Dirk Radloff is one hell of an accomplished musician, you cannot create music at this level without having that ability that's for sure. Music like this does not just fall out of the sky into your lap, it's a very well crafted and sculptured piece of work that is far from anything remotely easy to play and put together in this way.

It's a very solid album of 14 tracks over a playing time of some 50 minutes. I feel Dirk also was heavily influenced by many of the greats from the 70's, but he has also managed to adapt his own personal touch in bringing it up to date with some contrasting styles of Pop and Jazz thrown into the equation along the way. He also continues his move into the world of Prog continues very well and this album continues in great contrasting style to its predecessor Straight To The Brain and is a well worthy purchase, and the album certainly rocks my boat and gets an 100% recommendation from me.