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SoundDiary - Anamnesis - Letter in a Bottle CD (album) cover

ANAMNESIS - LETTER IN A BOTTLE

SoundDiary

Crossover Prog


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3 stars Mental strife as a musical concept is pretty much as old as the concept of concept albums. If you can follow that.

For this particular offering, see inspiration from Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Dream Theater's "Metropolis: Scenes from a Memory Pt2". Two of the big daddies of the theme.

Austrian band SoundDiary here take us through a Five Act journey, each with six tracks, a lengthy list of 30 but probably best to regard this as five roughly 15 minute suites.

The concept is loosely a metaphorical journey from birth to death, intertwined with memories of a past life (Dream Theater anyone?). I often get lost in the complexity and symbolism of concept albums, but the 'glass prison' of track 1 is a recurring theme, and perhaps due to some of the band members singing in a second language, the lyrics are relatively simple so its definitely accessible.

I'm not going to do a detailed breakdown of the plot, its worth listening to without knowing that, but it is pretty much the staple scene-setter, bombshell, truth reveal, hubris, conclusion-but-at-what-cost of many concepts. The musical composition itself is very well put together, guest vocalists complement it very well harmony-wise, but the lyrics themselves are a little bit clunky. Its certainly worth an hour or so to sit down and concentrate on but a fairly middling album for me.

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Posted Thursday, November 26, 2020 | Review Permalink

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