BURN THE SUN

Absolutely fabulous prog-metal (a subgenre I generally don't enjoy), which actually deserves another half star. With traces of Rush and Metallica - and lots of Whitesnake (think "Still of the Night") - Ark shows what a number of bands might have sounded like had they followed progressive paths, including Foreigner (I Bleed, Missing You), GNR (Burn The Sun, Noose), Journey (Resurrection, Waking Hour, Feed the Fire), and even Zep (Absolute Zero). In the process, vocalist Jorn Lande does wonderful, and largely natural, imitations of Lou Gramm, Steve Perry, Axl Rose and David Coverdale (with a little Robert Plant thrown in). / The album starts off with "Heal The Waters," a powerful Rush-style metal-prog composition. Continuing the onslaught is "Torn" (with interesting traces of Marillion), followed by "Burn the Sun," a solid GNR-like song. The quasi-ballad "Resurrection" is not quite as successful. "Absolute Zero" brings the band back in a relentless (but excellent) way, evoking where Zep might have gone had they gone the way of "Kashmir" and other PG-era semi-prog. "Just A Little" has some amazing guitar work, beginning in a "spanish" flavor and then moving into a more classic "prog" sound; if memory serves, this was actually something of a "hit" for the band. The remainder of the album ranges from good to very good, with "Missing You" having a distinct Floydian flavor to it. The lyrics center primarily on an environmental theme, with both science and "religion" mixed in: all are thoughtful, some "deeper" than others. Interestingly, the drummer is included in the writing credits for all compositions - deservedly so, given that he is among the best, most creative metal drummers I've ever heard. / Overall, I found this album highly listenable, and strangely compelling. To quote Peter Rideout from a different review: this is prog-rock with the accent on "rock" - and boy can these guys rock!

A Norwegian Prog Metal super-group isn't anything you hear about every day. ARK is the exception although all the members aren't from Norway. The line- up is really amazing: Jorn Lande (COMPANY OF SNAKES), Tore Østby (CONCEPTION), John Macaluso (TNT), Randy Coven (Steve VAI, Steve MORSE) and Mats Olausson (Yngwie MALMSTEEN). They released their self-titled debut album in 1999, and "Burn The Sun" is the newly released follow up.

The vocalist Jorn Lande has a powerful voice with great diversity. He can sing like David COVERDALE, Ronnie James DIO, Peter GABRIEL, Ian GILLAN, Freddie MERCURY, Robert PLANT, STING, or anyone else. Tore Østby is a real guitar virtuoso and Mats Olausson doesn't need any further presentation.

I can't come up with anything negative to say about this album, because it has everything a good Prog Metal album should have: good compositions, complex arrangements, outstanding musicians, intricate rhythmical patterns and strong melodies. I don't think I have been that surprised by a band in this genre since I first heard A.C.T.'s debut album "Today's Report" in 1999. ARK has actually created their own style by blending Prog Metal, Progressive Rock, Neo-Classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. I know it doesn't sound that unique, but you have to hear it to understand what I mean. The closest comparison that comes to mind is a mix between A.C.T., MAGNITUDE 9, QUEEN and THRESHOLD.

This is one of the best albums released in the new millennium. It's creative, diverse, innovative and intelligent music, and it deserves to be a modern classic. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Pure genie,this prog-metal album is very different with another prog band. Rock,metal,prog,ballad,classical the variety is fabullous.Jorn Lande on vocalist make a nice job in metal apparence this man is reputed for rock voice but in this album he sing like super-man.The band stay very thecnical on every instrument.Good song presence for all song.I recommed Jorn Lande leave the band in 2004 for have a many time whit is new power metal band Masterplan.Is dommage

One of the best progressive album ever !!! Always when I listen this record I feel like in another dimension. Atmosphere is absolutely magic. Brilliant musicians skills, great structures and compositions... Jorn Lande is a metal god !!! I´m sure that this album will include top of the metal music ever !!!

A great Prog metal band. The problem is that they are..No more. Jorn Land did a good vocal job with constructive melodies. The album is a good compromise between prog and power metal better than then their first release. Drums are always original. It sounds metal but with sometimes a little electro effects. Every song is particular with is own atmosphere and originality. It's not a 11 track album, it's more 11 "one song" albums. And it sounds good.

Strange beautiful music. That was my impression when I first listening to ARK's Burn The Sun. Trio Tore Otsby (guitars), John Macaluso (drums), and Jorn Lande (vocals) return with their second album, Burn The Sun. This time, they are accompanied by bassist Randy Coven and keyboardist Mats Olausson. Opened with the song "Heal The Water", a progressive metal song with a crunchy and tight rhythm guitar playing, and turned out to be a typical power and speed metal song during the keys/guitar solo part. While you will find "Torn" and "Absolute Zero" to be somewhat dark musically, you will also find that the title song "Burn The Sun" is very much a radio-friendly one. "Just A Little" is an amazing song. Opened with a Spanish-acoustic guitar style by Tore Otsby with a pop-like chorus, this should be another radio-friendly song from them. If you'd like to hear an 'acoustic- progressive rock' (well, did I say it right?), have a listen on this one. "Waking Hour" sounds a bit pop too. Thanks to Jorn Lande for his voice which makes the song sound nice. "Noose" is just a typical metal song with a touch progressive metal element in the solo section. I have to admit it that the music starts boring in the middle of the album but "Feed The Fire" turned out to be a refreshment and save me out of boredom. It's a great and headbanging song. The last 2 songs, well it's not as great as its previous songs in the beginning. "I Bleed" is just a ballad song with standard lyrical theme, while "Missing You" is no better than "I Bleed", lyrically. My conclusion is that ARK has the capability to become a great band and able contribute their unique music in the progressive metal scene. What is lacking of them is most of the songs here sounds typically the same. The tempo, the riffs & rhythm changing, all are almost the same. If you had to listen the songs individually, I doubt that you'd recognize which song it is. But yes I have no doubt that would be able to do better than this effort. Unfortunately it seems that Jorn is settled in his position of MASTERPLAN's lead vocalist which may lead into no future holds for ARK. [3/5] **David Dewata, Indonesia**

HEAVY METAL BLISS FOR THE HARD ROCKING PROG ROCKER... progressive influence is not entirely present on every track on this album, but the magnifiscent composition of these songs are powerful enough to make you bang your head to its heavy riffs, or make your mind soar on some of its beautiful melodies. I ADMIT, THIS ALBUM IS NOT FOR EVERY REGULAR PROG FANATIC, BUT FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO ROCK... AND ROCK HARD!!!

Perfect blend of progressive metal. Ark truely does have their own sound and it is fantastic. Make no hesitation in buying this album it has a great cast of songs (Burn The Sun and Ressurection are the best off the album in my opinion). This album is "Must Have" for any progressive metal fan.

Since first time this cd was in my player I enjoyed the performance of excellent musicians and the stunning vocalist. Varied and never boring stuff, from fast paced metal ("Noose") to Spanish guitar and rhythms ("Just a little")! All songs are good, but some of my favs are "Heal the waters", "Torn" [note the incredible fretless(?) bass on the background], "Resurrection" (vocals remember me Mr. Coverdale!), "Walking hour" (vocals a la Tony Martin - Black Sabbath). Even the popish or mainstream material like "Feed the fire" and parts of "Missing you" are good and not boring songs. Very good and varied drums, unlike most of metal and even some "prog metal" bands. Excellent guitar and the keyboards are only for the atmosphere, without excesses, what I think is good (see the excesses of keys in DT or DT clone bands.). It is a wonder that nobody above have pointed out the terrific bass work of Randy Coven: most of time sounding like fretless bass. Please, listen to the bass on this cd! Buy without fear!

Ark - Burn The Sun: This album surpasses all the Conception CD's in every way. Every contributor (Musician) on this album is astonishing. Especially the drummer, sinner, and... nevermind... There's all virtuoso's by now. Ark's Burn The Sun CD blew me away initially. It's hard rock and progressive metal fuised together along with other tiny more specific genres, a very diverse feat. You couldn't ask for a more anthem sounding group with such talented musicians. There's no weak spot on Ark's existence, I only wish they'd keep making albums instead of waiting for four years without anything. It's a shame they only have two CD's, and such a small fanbase because like many artists on this website, they deserve so much more. Ark has a couple of very catchy songs surprisingly and there's not a song on the CD that really bores me, even after excessive listening for eight months. It's one of those albums you don't get tired of, becasue of it's complexity and uniqueness. Ark sounds like nothing I have experienced in the past. Burn The Sun is my favorite metal album in years, next to dream theater's new "Octavarium" CD, and Arcturus' "The Sham Mirrors" which I found recently, from retiring from metal in 2003, then returning in 2004-2005. Eventually you all might get to a point where all metal seems dull, but even through those moments, these three CD's make it all worthwhile. Ark is worth your money, or if you're an 'el-cheapo' you can just download it, but please give Ark's Burn The Sun a try, even if you aren't very fond of metal. The CD really draws you in, and keeps you entranced by the frantic drumming+solos, the smooth bass-work, the wild and dangerous vocals, and the very diverse guitar-work.

One of the best progressive metal albums ever. All compositions, the production and the musical attitude are breathtaking. Incredible voice, excellent material, guitars that kill (and not showing off), drummer with his completely own style!!

4,5 for me!Reading other reviews I learnt that prog-metal like that is really not fashionably nowadays...Maybe 'cause the prog-audience is sick and tired of Dream Theater's exagerations in prolixity?I think so: but the Ark are better stuff: more feelings, more human,with great lyrics, not bound to the idea of "progressive" as performing 10 minutes of instrumental and solos: just listen both "heal the waters" and "just a little", two faces of the same coin, embracing a wide spectrum of genres including "space" and flamenco at the same time. I advice "Burn the sun" to all those still love this often overrated kind of rock, as somtething honest, fascinating and spellbinding.

Excelent Album! I agree, it's one of the best from this genre... which I think to be too limited for Ark. Its music is so diverse that calling t Prog-Metal is... well, fair, but it still is like we are limiting it. Well, the music as i said before is diverse, and much more focused on what they wanted to show us. Sadly is that they aren't a band anymore... this could've been an excelent precedent for a follow-up album... which will never exits. Actually 4,5 Points.

Deep Purple plays Progressive Metal?

Yep! This is how I can describe this album in brief. Why? The music is completely progressive metal with many abrupt changes in style and tempo but the vocal quality and singing style is very similar with David Coverdale of Deep Purple. Can you imagine that? Hope you can. If not, just buy the CD - you would never regret it. For me personally, I knew the band about two years ago from information exchage with my power metal friends who love bands like Helloween, Kamelot, Blind Guardian or Angra, etc. I did not pay enough attention on it but when I listened to it - wow! what a great music offering with varied riffs and styles. So I did purchase the CD sometime this year during 10th PROGNITE event in Jakarta. Two things triggered me to write my thoughts about this album. Couple of weeks ago I got a Norway's band MAGIC PIE debut album (which I wrote a long review in this site). Two weeks ago, in prog program from the Jakarta Alternative Station (radio) Magic Pie was aired with its opening track "Change" (20 minutes) and at the same time the radio aired also "Missing You" from Ark "Burn The Sun" album. What a coincidence! Both bands are coming out from Norway and both are excellent bands. So I am being cjhallenged to write my views about ARK "Burn The Sun" .

I am not going to review on track by track basis but for sure if you are not into a progressive metal music, I would recommend you to go straight to the 11th track "Missing You". Why? This track is the most accessible one to wider range of ears because it's like a melodic ballad with a sort of combination between neo prog with symphonic prog music with orchestra at background. Some people call this kind of track is "ear candy" because you can digest easily. The other ten tracks are completely progressive metal vein with rich composition and abrupt tempo changes, heavy riffs and powerful vocal. The album opener "Heal The Waters" (6:37) starts energetically with drum solo followed with heavy music. The other great tracks are "Resurrection" (5:31) which has great melody and nice guitar riffs that bring us to the 80s hard rock music. The style changes beautifully in the middle of the track. Sixth track "Just A Little" (4:36) is another great track especially with the use of spanish acoustic guitar played in fast speed - it reminds me to Germany's guitarist Bern Streidl. This song is so powerful.

It's a highly recommended progressive metal album. Keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours, GW

ARK is the band that make this effect, unrecognizable but however sublimates... of course, they are virtuosos, and the technique is with returns, but adds to that the most beautiful voice which exists (yes yes!), superb melodies, a new kind has each song... ark is the best thing than I was likely to hear in my life.

monsters of the album : Heal The Waters, Burn The Sun, Just A Little, Waking Hour, Feed The Fire, Missing You...

but I do not know to which kind of music this group belongs...it is not only progressive... it is unclassable!

Do not miss for nothing in the world this abum essential to any progressive guy!

and sorry for my english.

I like this recording... the out there lyrics and the motion of the music. It may not be legendary album in teh end not part of the prog canon, but it is great music. Historical importance is not vital to my rating. The ears ought to be the judge of music and that is why I give this album a 5! 'Cause my ears love it! :)

The voice of Lande is important to the ambience of this recording. The lyrics are spaced out, no doubt. Interesting subjects, space travel and astronomical and astrological theories. Some of the lyrics are just a bit too cheesy but they get away with it because of the great melodies and outstanding musicanship...

I'm not sure why I'm not giving this a five star rating, but I guess it just falls short of being a masterpiece. Why? Well, perhaps it's because there is still some growth left to do and some songs do remind me of other bands/songs/musicians. It is quite diverse, with each song having it's own flavour, lots of prog metal drumming and crunchy riffs, a few metal songs, a few power ballads, a fairly commercial flamenco song, in fact this is relatively 'commercial'' or maybe I should say accessible, it could almost get on radio, but the first sign of a drum fill or tempo change would make it too challenging for normal listeners. Jorn Lande, since departed, uses his voice well and manages to sound like Coverdale, Bjork Dio, Sting and perhaps others. He probably goes a bit too over the top (ie. belts it out too much) on this album, later recordings with Masterplan see him reigning it in a bit more. Østby 's guitar work is excellent, taste, diversity and the right amount of chunk and flashiness. This adds to the dynamic nature of the songs. Macaluso's drumming is again flashy and melds the different time signatures together and is tasteful and interesting - great to listen to. I love Coven's bass work with all the little fills, again, I call this tasty! Last but not least, Olausson's keys fit perfectly, showing a broad range of sounds that really set this album apart. It's the breadth of the work which really makes it interesting, some songs could pass for a Bjork, Sting or boy band, whilst others belt out like a full on traditional metal band. Hopefully they can find a replacement vocalist to match Lande's talent, maybe this will even strengthen their sound. Burn the Sun is almost a masterpiece!

Strange beautiful music. That was my impression when I first listening to ARK's Burn The Sun. Trio Tore Otsby (guitars), John Macaluso (drums), and Jorn Lande (vocals) return with their second album, Burn The Sun. This time, they are accompanied by bassist Randy Coven and keyboardist Mats Olausson. Opened with the song "Heal The Water", a progressive metal song with a crunchy and tight rhythm guitar playing, and turned out to be a typical power and speed metal song during the keys/guitar solo part. While you will find "Torn" and "Absolute Zero" to be somewhat dark musically, you will also find that the title song "Burn The Sun" is very much a radio-friendly one. "Just A Little" is an amazing song. Opened with a Spanish-acoustic guitar style by Tore Otsby with a pop-like chorus, this should be another radio-friendly song from them. If you'd like to hear an 'acoustic- progressive rock' (well, did I say it right?), have a listen on this one. "Waking Hour" sounds a bit pop too. Thanks to Jorn Lande for his voice which makes the song sound nice. "Noose" is just a typical metal song with a touch progressive metal element in the solo section. I have to admit it that the music starts boring in the middle of the album but "Feed The Fire" turned out to be a refreshment and save me out of boredom. It's a great and headbanging song. The last 2 songs, well it's not as great as its previous songs in the beginning. "I Bleed" is just a ballad song with standard lyrical theme, while "Missing You" is no better than "I Bleed", lyrically. My conclusion is that ARK has the capability to become a great band and able contribute their unique music in the progressive metal scene. What is lacking of them is most of the songs here sounds typically the same. The tempo, the riffs & rhythm changing, all are almost the same. If you had to listen the songs individually, I doubt that you'd recognize which song it is. But yes I have no doubt that would be able to do better than this effort. Unfortunately it seems that Jorn is settled in his position of MASTERPLAN's lead vocalist (now he's out of Masterplan) which may lead into no future holds for ARK. (3/5)

For me, this album suffered from the "I love it right out of the box" syndrome. As prog goes, usually it is better to have to grow into an album than to like it straight away. (I'll never forget after listensing to Rage Against the Machine for the first time that they would be my favorite band forever. After about the third listen, I was ambivelent about them. That CD is pretty dusty by now.) The first 3 or 4 songs blew me away on first listen and after the first couple of spins, I was ready to hail this one as a classic. But after repeated listenings, the songwriting and hooks just doesn't grasp me enough to give high marks. The musicianship is top rate, the production is great and Jorn Lande's voice is very strong. The album has some very good moments but isn't consistent enough to get up to four stars. Good prog-metal but not great. 3 stars.

After the beautiful selfnamed debut, this Burn The Sun is probably as magnificient as his predecessor, but start having some little boring moments in the middle of his travel, for example the song Absolute Zero, which I find a little bit useless, and less prog and articulated odd times moments vis-à-vis the debut album. Still there are the same marvellous musicianship, with in particular Jorne Lande which has one of the most recognizable and emotional voice I've ever heard in progressive music history, the same powerful guitar riffs and frantic solos from Tore Otsby (and this time guitars, especially when distortion comes across, are far better recorded), the same beautifully recorded and highly proggish drumming from John Macaluso, the same stunning and always surprisingly exciting balance between spanish, blues, soul, metal and prog atmospheres. Highlights are Heal The Waters, Torn (marvellous melody in the chorus), Burn The Sun, Just A Little (stunning performance from Lande), Waking Hour and I Bleed. Ark is definitely one of the most interesting bands you can approach if you're interested in the neo progressive metal genre. No doubts, buy this record, it's absolutely worth it! Funny thing: Noose's opening riff is absolutely identical to the one that open Dream Theater's This Dying Soul featured in the 2003 record Train Of Thought.

This is a much superior offering to their self-titled debut album. For a start it is much more assured and cohesive, the songs are better structured and grab you quite firmly from the opener, keeping you hooked until the end. It also delivers on the potential hinted at by that first album.

I particularly like "Heal The Waters", the title track "Burn The Sun", "Absolute Zero", "Feed The Fire" and "Missing You". The remainder are good to but maybe not so distinct. The vocals are overall still very David Coverdale and at times Dio but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It just throws you a little at times.

Still not essential listening but being a big improvement on the first elevates this to a 4 star rating.

Hmm I don't really see why everybody finds this album a masterpiece of progressive music. Still a good album but apart from some Queensryche influences and a few melodic elements here and there, this is straight heavy metal. The singer's voice is a mix of Ronnie James Dio and Glenn Hughes and the music is very reminiscent of Iommi's last album "Fused".

"Heal The Waters", "Burn The Sun" and "Absolute Zero" are classic hard rock songs. "Torn" is quite darker, with a weird mood that shows especially in the vocals. "Resurrection" is probably the most progressive song here, with a lot of mood changes. "Just A Little" is a beautiful acoustic ballad with a touch of spanish folk. "Waking Hour" is another dark power ballad with very powerful vocals, close to what Black Sabbath did in the Tony Martin era ("Headless Cross", "Anno Mundi"...). "Noose" is a fast paced metal song with vocals really close to Dio. "Feed The Fire" sounds like an attempt to do a more commercial song (a single maybe), and so it sounds really like a Journey song. The last two songs are again close to Iommi/Black Sabbath songs - "I Bleed" is a weird song, mid paced with vocal experiments and "Missing You" is a power ballad (I was almost waiting for Glenn Hugues to sing the first notes of "No Stranger To Love" after the melodic intro!) with the classic faster paced break in the middle of the song that is typical in Iommi/Black Sabbath power ballads.

Rating: 80/100 (4 stars)

I´d just like to say this is really one of the best melodic metal albums I've heard. Jörn Lande excells himself in different styles and the musicians with him are excellent. Great songwriting, power,emotion. Every song is great. Too bad Ark didn't last. The styles can be like Iron Maiden, powermetal, Björk, Sting, latino ballads, jazz...

the highest rating!

ARK - Burn The Sun

Ark was a norwegian band consisting of a bunch of guys incredibly skilled at their respective instruments. Fronted by Jørn Landes amazing voice, backed up by Tore Østby's, John Macaluso's, Randy Coven's and Mats Olaussen's impressive work, Ark really is one of my favourite groups of all time, and one of the first progressive bands I heard.

Now, to the actual music. Ark is categorized as Progressive Metal, and that tag may cause a lot of people to think "oh, yeah, another Dream Theater clone...". I hardly think one could be further from the truth. Ark may have some similar elements(for example the fact that the band consists of artists who may very well be called virtuosos), but I feel their sound and style is very unique. One of the things that contributes to this unique sound is the fact that Østby experiments with a lot of different guitar styles, for example you can check out the intro to Just A Little. Playing that on my guitar is on my "top 10 list of things to do before I die"(well, I don't actually have such a list, but if I did, this would definitely be on it!).

Playing the record, you can feel all the instruments equally taking part into making the sound that is Ark. Each and every member contribute, and they are all given their place in the spotlight. Still, I have to admit that Olaussen isn't as prominent as the other members, which is a shame really, because I think he's a skilled keyboardist and the times he does stand out, he does a very good job(eventhough I'm not really a huge fan of Missing You. I think it's boring compared to the rest, and the keyboards on it are kinda dull). I have no complaints on the others, I am especially pleased with Coven's ability to do the creative work he does playing the bass, especially when such prominent artists as Østby and Macaluso are playing drums and guitar - instruments that usually 'steal' much more attention than bass. Jørn Lande is as always an impressive vocalist, with a very strong voice which I think he uses the best way he can.

Concerning the songs, I think the entire record is filled with incredibly varied and impressive tracks. Heal The Waters really gives the record a heavy start, and it's definitely one of the most outstanding tracks. Other favourites of mine are Burn The Sun, Just A Little and Resurrection, but with a slight exception of most of Missing You, I think every single track on the record is strong and unique. After listening through the record, I don't feel that they have repeated themselves or stepped into any boring patterns, everything has it's own touch.I do have a slight complain though, I some times have a feeling that the vocal work on a few choruses in a few songs feel a bit boring or simply not very creative.

In case I didn't express it enough before: My biggest complaint(of the very select few complaints I have) to this album must be Missing You. I dislike the sound of the keyboard in it, I dislike how the boring keyboard line is played solo along with the vocals, and in general, I think the song is boring, and it just doesn't "reach me" in anyway, except for a small part in the middle.

Listening to this album while writing this review really confirmed my opinion that it deserves 5 stars, despite the slight disappointment that Missing You (in my opinion) is.

So, if you haven't already tried out one of the most interesting bands(which unfortunately broke up and propably never will get back together) of newer progressive music(and music in general!) it's about time you give Burn The Sun the spot in your collection which it deserves! It's truly a shame(or maybe a blessing?) that Ark never again will replicate or make a follow-up of this amazing piece of musical mastership.

PS: This is my first review, and the album is one of the first real prog albums I ever was introduced to, so I might be just a little bit biased. ;)

A GRATEFUL SURPRISE

Surrounded, in a country where Black & Death Metal rules with lyrics full of agression, blood and demons; Ark opens their own way in the difficult Progressive Metal scene, a genre with bands already established with a solid and strong fan base such as Dream Theater, Symphony X, Pain Of Salvation and Opeth just for mention the most popular. Formed with a vocalist with the sixe of Jorn Lande, one of the most creative guitar players Tore Østby, the magnific John Macaluso in the drums, a decent keyboard performance by Mats Olausson and the notable job in the bass by Randy Coven, Ark makes of this release a very pleasant experience with mostly powerful songs with TNT guitar riffs and awesome drum arrangements that change a little bit the genre standard playing using some jazzy nuances in a style that reminds the Bill Bruford Style and the bass lines add a unique flavor to this work. I have to stress the flamenco influences of Østby considering that is a predominant factor during the whole album, something he has shown in his previous collaborations in Conception.

Outsatnding tracks such as "Heal The Waters", "Resurrection", "Just A Little" and "Absolute Zero" turn to this release into a tasty work due to the performance of each one of the members of this norwegian supergroup. I don't hesitate to highly recommend this album. Without a doubt it deserves 4 stars.

This album is pretty good. I ordered this along with Scarsick (the new Pain of Salvation album). Scarsick sucked but luckly this album made me feel better about my purchase. Some of the songs took a while to grow on me, like "Absolute Zero" and "Just a little" for example. The other songs hooked me. All together, this album is solid. The writing is great. Tore Østby's guitar playing is awesome. I liked his tone and his leads were great. Jorn Lande has a great voice and he really shines on this release. Another aspect are the drums. They are simple at times yet still complicated. That is one thing I have always enjoyed. It is when a drummer can hold back and knows what is appriopriate at whatever point in the song. All together a great album, buy it.

Before I start my review let me just clarify this one thing; if you are into Power metal add two stars, if not trust my judgment.

ARK was somewhat of a super metal group that lived for a small period of time in the late ´90 and part of the eraly ´00, where we have five of the most virtuoso players the genre can deliver... having said that I must make a second clarification: this might be virtuoso playing... but there are no "virtuoso compositions", sad but true, the songwriting in this album is nothing worth mentioning, not at least in a genre that has monsters of composition like Michael Akerfeld and Daniel Gildenlöw amongs others. Yes, sure they can play, boy can they play!, but that can get you only so far, at the end of the day I WANT GOOD COMPOSITIONS. But, now, I´m being too drastic, I have said earlier that if we take this from a Power metal perspective, it´s a rather good album, so there must be something good here, right? But I am not a Power metal fan, and this is not a Power metal site, it´s a Prog site, and keeping that in mind I don´t see why this album should be so highly rated.

Guitarist Tore Østby has quite a personal touch and way of playing, which is always welcomed, specially in a genre like Power metal, where innovation is not frequently the most used word. But... yet... still... I don´t like his playing that much and I feel like he has no real composition skills. But hey, that´s just me! Singer Jorn Lande is one talented [%*!#]er, I know many metal singers would kill for his tone and technique, but he is not equality talented when it comes to the writing process. Songs like Missing you and Feed the fire confirm that... that´s down right Whitesnake... in their bad days. Yet, lyrics aside, great voice, although I like him more in the first Beyond Twilight album, as I think a heavier band fits his voice better. Drummer John Macaluso is probalby my favorite musician here, an underrated drummer that has a great way of playing where he combines power with texture and originality. The bassist and keyboarder are also very good, but the band are this three gentlemen.

So, great musicianship and talent... shouldn´t this be one of the top metal bands ever? Well, I guess this just goes to show that virtuosism does not equal great music. But, still, keep in mind that if you are into this kind of music you will find something to love here for sure.

I am ordered it and I am listening to it for the first as a whole album now. Man!! a 5 star CD!! I was moved to get the whole album because last year I downloaded one of the best tune from the album ( Resurrection) man what a killer tune so I finally got to hear the whole album and I am loving it all ready. some part sound like Latin Prog-Metal. again 5 star. if you into Cristal clear metal hard rock music. this is most.

There's so much that I like about this record, but there are a couple of things about it that keep me from giving it 4 stars.The first and most important are the David Coverdale-like vocals. I never was a fan of his singing or his commercial sounding music. That is hard for me to get past. The other is the lyrics, and while they may be easier to ignore they are in some cases really bad. Just read them, it will be obvious which songs i'm talking about. Having said all that, these guys create some pretty amazing music at times.

"Heal The Waters" contrasts the heavy and lighter sections (reserved vocals and synths) quite well. Good song. "Torn" opens with some atmosphere. I like it. It kicks into gear a minute in. Contrast continues. Some excellent bass in this one. Another good one. "Burn The Sun" opens with some good guitar before turning dark and heavier with vocals. Female spoken words 3 minutes in. Some fantastic guitar follows. "Resurrection" opens with some very good drumming. Cool song. I like the mellow sections. A wall of sound 5 minutes in. Nice.

"Absolute Zero" is my absolute favourite on the album. The vocals have a different tone to them. The drumming is so intricate like Bruford. It takes off 1 1/2 minutes in. Awesome bass ! Back to opening sounds as contrast continues. I just really like the style of music here which is so different from the rest of the album. "Just A Little" opens with what sounds like Spanish guitar melodies. I don't like the vocals at all or the song. Too poppy for my tastes, in fact it sounds like that guy who calls himself Seal. We do get some good electric guitar later but it's way too late to save this mess. "Waking Hour" features percussion and synths. It becomes more powerful after a minute. Contrast continues. "Noose" is quite heavy. Great guitar solo before 1 1/2 minutes. "Feed The Fire" is a good uptempo track with brutal lyrics though. "I Bleed" has the focus squarely on the vocals. Love the guitar solo after 2 1/2 minutes that goes on and on. "Missing You" is the 9 minute closer. I can't really get into this one either although it it's ok.

Good, but not even close to being great in my opinion.

Perfect, Excellent, A true MASTERPIECE!!!

''Burn the Sun'' released in 2001, is considered to be one of the most wonderful Progressive albums for the 00's...Releasing a notably worthy debut album (Ark), the band now presents a true masterpiece. The production is far and far better and clearer than the last album. The band presents a fabulous progressive style full of different kinds of music just like metal, jazz, flamenco, psychedelic and blues that are wisely connected each other.

Tore Ostby releases his best prog work, accompanied by excellent musicians. Jorn Lande (vocals) is the ''monster'' of the whole project with an out-breathing voice that has so many colors. The virtuoso Randy Coven (bass) passing around slide and fretless basslines consists an excellent duo with John Macaluso (drums). The keyboards of Mats Ollauson are also highly presented and well worked.

The band manages to release some extremely beautiful and technical material that makes every prog (or not) listener admiring. Recommended to EVERY prog listener and fan..A masterpiece for every music library..

5 stars!!

Could Have Been So Beautiful

Ark was a prog metal supergroup that produced an extremely promising, though uneven, debut album. For their second album, singer extraordinaire Jorn Lande, multi-faceted prog guitarist Tore Ostby, and drummer John Macaluso added Randy Coven, who was a shred bass aficionado in the guitar mags, and keyboardist Mats Olaussen, who had played with Yngwie Malmsteen. All the pieces were set for a prog metal masterpiece. Unfortunately, Lande led the band further down the melodic power metal path, and the progressiveness is actually less here than on their debut.

That said, this is a monster of a power metal album. The guitars are heavy, the riffs driving, and the chops of the players are phenomenal and on display. The bass deserves special regard here. Randy Coven plays like a demon on this album, let loose like he'd probably never been on record before. Along with providing active, jazz-infused accompaniment, he also gets some unbelievable solo spots, including a percussive face off with Lande doing traditional Indian vocal percussion! Lande is also a force of nature. While other vocalists may have higher ranges in terms of register, there is virtually no metal singer with a broader range of timbre, with different aspects of their voice brought to the music. On this album, Jorn's own identity is consolidating from his myriad influences, and is leagues above the majority of prog metal singers. And while he pulls off the ballads and straight rockers well, they are less interesting for (at least this) prog listener's ears.

My biggest disappointment is that guitarist Ostby doesn't get the chance to truly branch out. His parts are rocking and extremely well constructed, but his flamenco flavored acoustic chops are less prominent here than on the debut. As a result some of the exotic feel of the music is lost. (The flamenco IS still on full display on the song Just a Little, which evokes the Seal song Crazy a little too closely). Tore's metal soloing is typically blistering, and admittedly his metal rhythm parts are just friggin' amazing. I suspect the shift in the balance of influence from equal parts Lande and Ostby to Lande as decided frontman was part of the breakup of the band. (This is painfully clear if you look at the promo pictures from the two albums.)

There ARE a fair number of proggy elements in this album. Intermittent thematic sci-fi references and off time rhythms punctuate the album. Heavy syncopation, jazzy bass, and exotic tonality are frequent visitors. There's just not enough. The little tastes we get are delicious, but this could have been a true feast.

For this review, I came back to listen after checking out some lesser known prog metal outfits. This album is so much better than those that my rating is going to increase as a result. Also, I have not listened to the debut album in a few weeks and I'm better able to judge this one on its own merits. It holds up remarkably well. It's hard to give this album the same rating as the debut, but within the reference point of prog metal, it is appropriate. Ark represents a fairly unique niche in an overpopulated genre, and this album is indeed excellent.

A spiritual person, I had a bit of a reservation to the album title "Burn the Sun". Some may find the title clever, in my world it comes across as immature and disrespectful. Not a good start. Still, a Norwegian super group held some promise and I obtained both of ARK's albums - sight unseen - for that particular reason.

Whilst not a Metal devotee, my collection contains a handful of such albums that I'd rather not be left without. This is not going to be one of them

I have no doubt that many will find the experience here exciting and I won't belittle their preferences. From my end, the music is well performed, but of little interest to me. Powerful vocals bordering on violent, I am not at all comfortable with that.

For general talent and delivery I'd offer 3 stars without any reservation. For personal preference this is not something I would ever listen to again.

Although signed to a mostly progressive label, this unfortunately is not the much-loved and much-missed Ark who had dreams of Mr. Jones. Instead, this is the second album of a band that started life in Norway. Drummer John Macaluso and guitarist Tore Østby eventually found the right vocalist in Jorn Lande (Company Of Snakes) and after the success of their debut album in 1999 were then joined by Randy Coven (Steve Vai, Steve Morse) and Mats Olausson (Yngwie Malmsteen).

The results of this unions can be heard on this their second album. What is apparent straight away is that they do not feel restricted to any musical style as hard rocking "Heal The Waters" is followed by "Torn" which at times sounds as if it has been influenced by Japan. There is no surprise that the music is for the most part blasted out, or that it is very fine given the musicians, but the surprise is that given that this is a relatively unknown band the song writing is so strong. All of the songs are written by the original trio and the way that none sound like each other yet manages to maintain a band identity is a credit to them. An interesting album that deserves further investigation.

Originally appeared in Feedback #62, May 01

Ark - a sadly short-lived and obscure Norwegian prog metal/hard rock band - is best perhaps introduced as one of the first projects of hard rock vocalist extraordinaire Jorn Lande (and featuring some other session musicians reappearing in countless other projects). Songs on their second album are not especially progressive, but feature relentless and technical playing. This is hard rock of the hard-hitting variety. Ark is also know to incorporate the occasional flamenco guitar. A question mark is the more accessible song Just a little, which obviously borrows from Seal's "Crazy". I don't know the band well enough, perhaps this is deliberate and royalties were payed. Ark has only one other album, which is more progressive in structure, but not as tight and with a very poor production.