HOUR OF RESTORATION

One of those US releases that everyone praised so much in the early 90's and that I loved to hate it and with good reasons as IMOHO this type of music sucks . Just kidding but I supposed it was the year it came out as it must've been the only kind of slightly-remotedly-faintly-progish-in-a-sort-of-way album. Again, I am kidding here, but really this was not my cup of tea. I understood that a new generation of kids actually loved this type of group, because it was actual and contemporary to what they were living , that these bands could actually get them to take a leap to more challenging musics afterwards so I was avoiding to say such comments as I do nowadays about such groups. Please do not get me wrong, the album is hardly botched up (quite the contrary), but it was aiming at a public from which I certainly felt a great distance from. But the level of musicianship and the general producing qualities of this album is reasons enough for its success back then.

I was always one to think that scarce offering of prog makes for over-rated so-called masterpieces of starving Progheads . This was the case in the early days of Magna Carta label releases .

Schoolhouse prog rock, as MAGELLAN condenses the history of the human rights struggle into under an hour of dynamic music. Of course neo-prog bands like MAGELLAN are lovers of history or they wouldn't bother dusting off the old musical adventures of their forefathers. The operative reference point here is KANSAS (and thus GENESIS is already filtered into the equation), MAGELLAN retracing the Midwestern band's original course in songcraft better suited to the times. The result not surprisingly feels like KING'S X with KERRY LIVGREN aboard, ambitious but occasionally sprawling in its architecture. I don't listen to a lot of neo-prog (which this is), but it's obviously my loss. "Hour of Restoration" isn't a classic in the making, but the band clearly bears watching (while KANSAS, at this juncture, did not). The knock on MAGELLAN's maiden voyage is their presumption that important subjects equate to important statements. You can say as much about human rights by watching a children's game (e.g., "Jeux Sans Frontier") as dredging up historical milestones like the signing of the Magna Carta or the American Civil War. The band would also seem to be short a drummer, but the final product doesn't show it. Although the band doesn't appear to have released any singles, "Friends of America" is a good candidate for the honor, concise and powerful like early ASIA. The trouble with neo-prog in general is that the bands often branded themselves as belated beatniks by clinging to the musical idols of the past.

Did the world need a new KANSAS or ASIA in 1991 when the old ones were struggling to capture an audience beyond hardcore devotees? Depending on your allegiance to progressive rock as a genre, yes or no. I tend to hear things in terms of good and bad rather than prog and non-prog, so sticking close to the prog blueprint doesn't buy any points with me. "Hour of Restoration" is good because it's filled with ambitious and engaging music, not because it reminds me of the old days. Whether you need to expand your world to include MAGELLAN is up to you. I'd certainly suggest buying this effort and getting your money's worth before blowing it on some of KANSAS' later stuff.

Why are people generally down on this album? Personally I love it! Sometimes maybe it needs to calm down a bit,as a with all Magellan albums, otherwise excellent stuff. If anyones never heard it , its in the style of ELP ,Yes , Genesis sort of....well lots of bombastic keyboards anyway, with harmonised vocals. Makes me feel good to hear it and thats what music is about.

Underrated!

Magellan's debut stands as one of my personal favorites from the early 90's prog-metal scene. This band, leaded by Keyboardist/Vocalist Trent Gardner, mixes classic prog-rock elements àla Yes and Kansas together with metal in an unique and interesting way, especially the lyrics too are very interesting. In 43-minutes, Magellan takes you through eight songs about the history of England, like the signing of the magna carta and the union war. Musically, It's very adventurous, bombastic and epic, without going way overboard though it's a notably complex album, often dominated by keyboards, but also backed up with an effective use of guitar too. No real drums here, only a drum machine, but it isn't really a problem since it's used in an incredibly effective way that it doesn't really sound tiresome at all. The song arrangements are very complex at times, but they still carries an acessible style to them. I have to admit that the wonderful cover art by Shawn Lux was the main reason I wanted to check this one out, but by this point, I can definitely say it was worth it.

The highlight here have to be the fantastic opener "Magna Carta"; a very progressive and dynamic track which stands out as Magellan's best track, In my opinion. As Mr. Connolly said, "The Winner" and "Friends of America" would have been fine single releases, actually, considering their accessibility and shorth lenght. Both tracks are fine too. The rest of the album is very good as well; these tracks all shows a clear similarity to "Magna Carta" although in a bit stepped down way. Still, all of them are highly enjoyable with the glorious "Union Jack" being a standout of those.

In overall, a highly enjoyable album, too bad it's so overlooked and rather forgotten, cause this is an excellent release. Fans of Dream Theater and Shadow Gallery should especially like this. It's hard to find, but if you are interested, give this one a spin (if you can find it, of course!) This one's available at the Magna Carta online store or perhaps on eBay. This is also a good starting point with this band. Highly recommended! 4/5

I remember the release of this album gave me a sign of hope there was a possible future for the prog genre. At the time not many prog albums got a proper distribution deal so the search for new prog releases was long and unfruitful. Possibly this infected my opinion about this album in a positive way. Though "Hour of restoration is an enjoyable progmetal album, it's far from the masterpiece I initially thought it was. This album seems clearly influenced by Kansas and in lesser degree Yes for the vocals and Elp for the fascinating keyboard parts. Yet its own character is quite unique. When I read other reviews on this site, it seems this album is underrated. To my opinion, no one can deny the skilful playing of the instruments, the excellent vocal harmonies and the splendid symphonic sound throughout the whole album. The opening track 'Magna carta' needs a concentrated listen as the different rhythm patterns, melodies and atmospheres are changing rapidly. I remember the time signatures reminded me of the first Dream Theater release. Unlike Dream Theater, it sounds a bit patchy by times even though many excerpts are fascinating to listen to. The formula is working better on "Breaking the circles" or "Another burning". Here the succession of the different parts is more logical as some of the fragments simply are musical variations of the previous ones. The haunting atmosphere and the inspired melodies of "Breaking these circles" are appealing but the little atmospheric keyboard interludes I love the most.

Tracks like "friends of America" or "The winner" show the aor side of the band. The chorus of the latter could be from a typical Asia album while the bridge would suit a Rabin era Yes album well. The inclusion of such accessible songs is the perfect antidote for the complex tracks that make out the major part of "Hour of restoration". The reflecting atmospheres in "just one bridge" and "turning point" are other psychological resting points.

Even though this music definitely is prog metal, there is a noticeable influences of eighties pop. This gives the album a lighter feel which is good because the musical structures are rather complex. Especially the colourful sound of the keys and some vocals parts are referring to vintage neo-prog.

The electronic percussion is the disturbing factor of "Hour of restoration". It sounds too clean and cheap. Surely the album would benefit from use of real drums. Another weak point is the flat sounding vocals of Trent Gardener. I don't mind he tries to sing like Jon Anderson but there's not emotion involved in his technical way of singing.

My previous spin of this album dated from 10 years ago. Still I enjoy the bombastic sound of this album. Sure it sounds overblown but you can discover a thousand details in the majestic wall of sound. I think what makes this album different from other Magellan releases are the more compact tracks and accessible melodies.

After the dismal and bleak 1980s, progressive rock started making a small, but significant comeback. It would be slow throughout the 1990s, only picking up steam in the latter half of that decade. In the early 1990s, one of the first labels to focus completely on prog rock was Magna Carta. If it wasn't for the tribute albums Magna Carta had successfully marketed back then, I might not have rediscovered prog rock for quite a few more years. Through listening to their tribute albums, I soon started purchasing CDs directly from Magna Carta of the bands that appeared on their tribute albums. This included the likes of Cairo, Shadow Gallery, Enchant, World Trade, and Magellan. With Magellan, I started with Hour of Restoration, their debut album, and their sophomore release, Impending Ascension.

I was extremely excited to hear this music, and although I knew it wasn't exactly comparable to the greats from the 1970s, I was so very eager to overlook any negatives. It was prog rock and it was new (new being the key word). But now that I've had about 15 years to digest Magellan's debut, and have digested a horde of fabulous new progressive rock releases since then, Hour of Restoration seems more of a quaint album and quite a bit less significant, even though it was so pivotal in my returning to prog rock. Still, it blew away the prog rock that was available to me at the time (like Asia and a pre-Brave Marillion).

The core of Magellan consists of the Gardner brothers, Trent (keys and vocals) and Wayne (guitars). In addition, they were accompanied by Hal Stringfellow Imbrie on bass (he would depart after Impending Ascension). Drums and percussion were credited to "Magellan," but after listening to this you could tell almost right away that all of the drums were programmed. It wasn't like the awful programmed drums Phil Collins was incorporating into Genesis and his solo music at the time, nor was it like the crap that was being used in the dance music of that era. It was programmed exactly like what one would expect a progressive rock artist to create. Time signature changes, drum rolls, complicated rhythm patterns. True, it was awkward sounding, but it was in a way groundbreaking for a genre that had almost completely disappeared.

In addition to the weird programmed drums, we find that Trent Gardner is quite a skilled keyboardist. No, not on the level of an Emerson or a Wakeman, but maybe a level under these guys. His brother Wayne is quite diverse in his guitar playing styles, ranging from soft, to complicated, to downright metal. Trent's vocals take a little getting used to. He kind of has a whiny sounding voice, but at times sometimes seems similar in delivery to Ian Anderson. This vocal delivery would become more prevalent in future Magellan albums. The music itself seems like a mix of Kansas, a little bit of Rush, a little bit of Yes (mostly from the harmonized vocals), maybe some Asia (maybe because some of it has an AOR feel), and a good dose of weird. Time signature changes come suddenly. This becomes more pronounced on future albums. Transitions between sections are not real cohesive. It's like slamming on the brakes while your foot is still on the gas. That took some time for me to get used to, but now I enjoy this charming aspect of Magellan's music. Some have labeled early Magellan as neo-prog. I don't know about that. Eclectic seems more fitting to me. Magellan would incorporate more metal in future releases and eventually abandon whatever you want to call their style on this album and Impending Ascension.

Trent Gardner tends to write about historical subjects. On Hour of Restoration, he tackles the Magna Carta (the document from 1215 and not the same record label that released this--interesting coincidences aside), the Falkland Islands War (on Union Jack), and the civil rights movement of the 1960s (Another Burning). Clearly the best songs on this album are Magna Carta and Union Jack, the two longest pieces. The rest of the material feels incomplete, like an afterthought or just ideas that didn't quite get developed enough, but were put on the album to make it long enough to be released. That's about the only unfortunate thing about this album. If these songs had been properly developed into longer and more sophisticated structures, this debut would not have been just pivotal, but significant to the genre's development in the early 1990s.

Even though this is far from being a perfect release, I still have a place in my heart for it and fond memories of the joy it gave to me that yes, there was still hope for progressive rock. It's an interesting release for historical purposes and definitely worthy for Magellan fans for understanding the development of this band since this sounds nothing like later Magellan releases. I can only give it three stars because much better stuff was coming down the pipeline in the years following this release, including the next Magellan album, Impending Ascension.

This one is the debut album of MAGELLAN, a very interesting 2-man band from the US prog scene and I consider it their best effort so far among their 3 first releases...This is pure hard progressive rock with leanings towards bands like CAIRO (in their keyboard driven parts), KANSAS (especially the vocal lines and melodies) and RUSH (song structure and general atmosphere of the album)...There are also some nice heavy parts of music in this album- almost metal - which make me think (and I think you will agree) that this album is the closest one to the sound of the later excellent Trent Gardner's project THE EXPLORER'S CLUB!...Although my actual rating for MAGELLAN's debut is 7/10 I'll give them a 4-star rating since this one is one level front of their next efforts...Recommended for fans of hard prog like RUSH,ENCHANT and CAIRO...

Masterpiece !!! I really can't understand why is this album so low rated. It's absolutely fantastic, so many greate ideas gatered in one album! For me it's essential of 80's. The melodies and crossing each other changes of rithm makes this album complete. The only thing that I regret is album lenght, I really would like it longer. But even so in my opinion it deserves for solid 5 stars.

I have a special affection for this CD , to me it represents t flag ship of hope for progressive music in the dim dark days of the very early nineties when bands like Sound Garden and Pearl Jam and Nirvana were on everyone's lips and frankly they bored me ! So I took a gamble on a band that a guy I got to know in a strange little CD store recommended to me, as he knew I was a Kansas fan so he thought I should like Magellan ... he was correct oh and thats an understatement !!! The adjustment to getting use to Magellan wasn't automatic as Trent Gardner writes with a certain degree of frantic and dramatic expression, he also comes across in his lyrics as knowledgeable, at the same time he can draw you in with his emotion and on this CD he does just that with powerful descriptive phrases the kind Fish from Marillion may conjure but with a certain Livgren type ability to rest his lyrics against the music that seems to form a synergy, an open envolope if you will , an unlimited field of possibility . Like an high calibre artist Trent paints his prog with passion and in the end after getting into this CD the rewards are fruitful ! Expect to gain in interest in historic events expect to reflect on history with a healthy cynicism Hour of Restoration is about to call on men like you so let Magellan be your captain and embark strange new worlds and try and make it back alive ! because if you do there's a fair chance you will be writing really weird reviews ... just like I do ;)

Very few bands divides the scene like this American band........ or maybe I am wrong. I happens to be one of them who respect this band.

But to this album.... Hour Of Restoration was their debut album and it is very influenced by bands like Kansas, ELP and Genesis. That is in my book a good thing. The result is a pretty interesting album.

The opening track Magna Charta is clocking in over fourteen minutes. Magna Charta is a very dynamic epic which pulsates along the theme of the basic law-book in the UK. It has five parts. All of them very good. The rest of the album contains of shorter, commercial radio-friendly songs. These songs are good, but not as good as Magna Charta which ranks pretty high on my list of all-time favorite prog-rock epics. If only the rest of the album was this good....

The music is very much based on synths, but with some metal guitars included too. It is obvious that the likes of Dream Theater has been an inspiration too (and close personal friends, according to their biography). It is hard to dislike this album and I rank it as one of the better neo-prog albums ever released.

3.5 stars.

I only know this band for some five years and I don't have a bad feeling when I listen to their debut effort.

The "opus magnus" is without doubt the long opening song "Magna Carta" which holds very good musical skills, fine instrumentation and very decent vocal work. Influences are many (ELP, Yes, Genesis and subsequent Pendragon as well) and the whole is very well structured: mixing heavy with symphonic parts (even short metal lines can be noticed). This song is the highlight of the album and it is difficult for the other songs to shine after this one.

The one that can potentially hold the comparison is "Union Jack". Between neo and heavy prog, it holds less melodic moments but more upbeat parts. This song is heavily keyboards oriented and vocals are again rather good.

The almost metal "Breaking These Circles" is the third song from this album that shines: there are several theme swaps and the whole is really well balanced. It rocks you down, but in style; A good song indeed.

This album is pleasant to listen to, even if some songs are on the average side. But seventy- five per cent of the timing is on the good to very good edge. Three stars.

This album was my re-introduction to prog rock after I lost touch with during the 80's. The guy in the record shop promised me my money back if I dodn't like it. So I bought it and for a while this was my absolute favourite CD and even now 19 years later, it is still in my top 10.

Well it's heavy in places, but not prog-metal. Some people have a problem with the programmed drums - not me. Others can't get on with Trent Gardner's voice - not me, it's perfect for the music.

So what of the music? Well mix up prime Kansas, ELP, Yes and you are getting something approaching thier style. This is epic, bombastic, sprawling stuff - great. Actually, I hear something of Delain's style with the staccato drumming and bass.

Track by track

Magna Carta - This sums up the whole album in a magnificent 14 minutes. One of my all time favourite tracks. 10/10

The Winner - A short high-tempo interlude, that Yes might have recorded, but hardly single material! 7/10

Friends Of America - A slower track with a great tune and magnificent chorus. 8/10

Union Jack - The second epic. Some really interesting vocal lines. I found I really had to work hard to 'key' into the style, otherwise it is just a racket. 9/10

Another Burning - Now this is your single! Fantastic vocals on this one and another great tune. 10/10

Just One Bridge - As it suggests, a gentle guitar and vocal bridge to the next track 8/10

Breaking These Circles - The heaviest and fastest track. 7/10

Turning Point - A short vocal over a keyboard wash sees this album out in heavenly style.

Overall, then a start to end classic. What impressed me most was the melding of superb musicianship, dynamic and bombastic arrangements allied with sensible vocals and really strong tunes. Absolutely essential.

Mike Varney who is the representative of Shrapnel Records has excellent respect in power that the musician he also sees through a promising musician in the future for a fact. Mike Varney excavated and various guitarists also excavated it.

Having established it for the purpose of the promotion of the band with the music character that the Mike Varney makes the keyboard a main axis was Magna Carta. It was thought that one band announced one album by the unit of two months in the speculation of Mike Varney.

It is not a translation that all bands mainly composed of the keyboard are connected with a progressive former band of course. However, a basic idea of Mike Varney might have put the theme on the diffusion of Hard Rock. Bands such as Shadow Gallery and Cairo are announcing the work from this label besides this Megellan.

An exactly unique band was offering high-quality one after another music to Neo Prog that had borne the part in the main current in the 80's. Mike Varney might have started finding the answer with the music character of the band that excavated the flow in own Magna Carta.

Bass player's Hal Stringfellow Imbrie was a musician who was acting in the item of classics and Jazz. The Gardner brother guesses that he had exactly absorbed the element of a lot of Prog Rock. Especially, Wayne Gardner was well versed in playing the wind instrument. It is said that playing the guitar was acquired in self-study.

The drum player doesn't exist for their initial works. However, the establishment of the music character and directionality might already have been given as for the offer of the technology concerning the height of the idea concerning the overwhelming tune and the composition power and the performances. The music character to absorb the element of Prog Rock in the 70's and the 80's almost and to construct them originally might be a part considerably calculated.

"Magna Carta" The keyboard and the guitar to get on five rhythms go for another development at once. Melody and rhythm that develops with complexity. Performance advanced attended with exhilaration one feels. Part of Hard Rock and a few symphonic. The tune offers development to which the forecast doesn't adhere one after another. Part of melody with song and tension to get on six rhythms. The development of Chord with the tension continues. And, the height of the composition in which the space is buried while producing another face. The development of the melody with the expression of feelings that appears on the way might be splendid. And, the part that shifts to majors Chord and the repeated theme shine. And, unexpected effective development of 13/16 rhythms and 11/12 rhythms will call impression.

The guitar that there are exhilaration one feels in a steady rhythm of eight rhythms twines round "The Winner". And, the chorus who completely has harmony twines round the rhythm of 7/8 and 9/8. Exhilaration one feels for the keyboard and the melody of the song might have originality. The progress of Chord is calculated well.

The guitar and the keyboard with expression of feelings are taken an active part to "Friends Of America". Perhaps, the sound of the drum is processed by all programs. Part of rhythm and melody that develops one after another. The tune freely manipulates intermittently the rhythm and the tempo while repeating eight rhythms and six rhythms.

"Union Jack" starts from the song processed by the effect. Part of song in close relation to piano and keyboard that plays grand melody. The melody in close relation to 16 steady notes might be splendid. The element of Yes and ELP might be included as atmosphere. The flow of the rhythm that develops one after another puts out good atmosphere. Development advanced as the rhythm of the odd number is multiused also has the tension. The part of the song that appears at the end of the tune and the composition of Chord are moving.

As for "Another Burning", the melody of the song with expression of feelings is impressive. The chorus and the keyboard with a transparent feeling are features. The melody of a glossy guitar shifts to the part of more complex development. The composition that changes tempo freely while emphasizing a beautiful melody is progressive.

The arpeggio and the song of a beautiful guitar twine round "Just One Bridge" well. Good as it is atmosphere continues. The melody to get on six rhythms is refreshing.

"Breaking These Circles" gets on the rhythm to which a melody Kon futuristic is steady. And, the element of Hard Rock twines round the rhythm of the shuffle well. The part of symphonic and the part of Hard Rock twine well and it develops. The keyboard with a transparent feeling that appears after it shifts to eight rhythms without the sense of incompatibility opens feelings and advances.

"Turning Point" will have the role of Outro as a part where the end of the album is reported. The melody of a gentle song to Chord that the keyboard with the anacatesthesia produces gets on.

Their music characters provide the revolution and advancement further. However, the composition of the tune and the construction of the idea might be consolidated in this debut album to some degree. The element of very various music is changed into good shape and an original outlook on the world is offered.

Magellan's debut album came out at around the time that progressive rock was starting to return from the demise it suffered throughout the 1980s (with a few small exceptions). This album came out around the time Magna Carta Records started issuing tribute albums to the likes of Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Yes. In fact, Magna Carta Records may have played a key role as one of the initial kickstarts prog rock needed to make its comeback in the United States. In other words, they reached out to those audiences that still loved the greats from the 1970s and at the same time introduced them to new bands. Hey, it worked for me, because I in turn did seek out albums from Magellan, Cairo, and others on this label. Then the Internet took off, and voila!

History lessons aside, Magellan's debut has a lot of promise and a lot to be learned. Where Magellan excels is in their longer pieces. Where they seem to suffer is in their shorter songs, which for the most part were filler to make a complete album. Another place where some may think they suffer is in the lack of a human drummer. That sets off red flags in more than one prog listener, but if they're done right, you'll find that many a listener will find the results acceptable; maybe not even notice it. And that seems to be the case, for the most part, with Magellan. If you want to do really good programmed drums, you need to listen to Magellan's first two albums; otherwise you find a human to do it (which is what they did on their third album).

Influences seem to be chiefly Kansas, maybe a little Genesis, and some AOR hints from Asia. Keyboard work is stellar. Trent Gardner is vastly underrated in this department and that may be because he seems to take a back seat on later Magellan albums and some of the side projects he has worked on. His keyboard prowess shines on this album, and even more on the next album. Hour of Restoration also incorporates a lot if historical subjects, something Magellan will be noted for throughout their career.

In conclusion, a mixed bag, but a small beacon of light shining through the travesty of late 1980s and early 1990s popular music. Magellan would improve greatly on their next album.

Restoring the progressive spirit

Magellan was founded in 1985 and consists of brothers Trent and Wayne Gardner. This debut album was released in 1991 on the freshly initiated Magna Carta label. The album opens with a nearly 15 minute track called precisely that, Magna Carta, and is about the well-known charter of rights. (A side note: Rick Wakeman opened his album Softsword with an equally epic track devoted to the same topic, recorded around the same time!) Progressive Rock was at the start of a revival at this time and releases such as this one was part of that restoration of the genre.

Heavy Prog is probably the most suitable categorization of this band, but there are elements of Neo-Prog and Prog Metal as well. Influences are drawn from a variety of sources - including some of the usual suspects from the classic era of progressive Rock - but this is not retro or derivative. The sound of early Magellan is dominated by modern keyboards, heavy guitar riffs, and anthemic lead and harmony vocals, done by the Gardner brothers themselves who are obviously very talented and good at what they do. I like the energy and sense of urgency of this album.

Being basically a two man band (with some help from Hal Stringfellow Imbrie on bass), they did not have a drummer at this time and thus relied on programmed drums. This could have been a disaster, but actually works surprisingly well! No doubt, the lack of real drums is going to raise sceptical eyebrows, including my own at first. Obviously, a lot of effort has gone into making the drums sound "real" and most of the time it succeeds.

Whatever the album may lack in some technical departments it makes up for in strong melodies and lots of good musical ideas. Good material will always be more important than technical perfection, and once you get past any such issues a set of strong songs reveal themselves. This music is not going to be everyone's cup of tea for sure, but I enjoy this album more than most of Magellan's later albums. Give it a chance, you may be surprised!

The birth of Magna Carta.

Seems like the days before the Internet where the Middle Ages. How did people got informations on anything? Where did you look for information on music? Yes, there was Rolling Stone Magazine, Spin, Kerrang! and Rock n' Folk but they mainly focused of mainstream releases. Once I bought a Rush tribute record from Magna Carta and they gave me a little catalog where I saw bands I never, ever, ever heard before: Cairo? Shadow Gallery? Ice Age? Enchant? Tempest? Magellan? What are those? Hey hold on, there's a tribute record to Jethro Tull?!?

To a young kid who only knew Rush, Magna Carta opened a door to a whole new palette of colors and textures. These records where not available at HMV or Sam the Record Man but only by import. The Magna Carta logo became a beacon of new and exciting stuff only known by really savvy musical nerds. And to think how much energy, time and money the founders put into it, you have to respect the work they did.

I'm always a sucker for nostalgia and great artwork, so the cover immediately grabbed my attention. I also decided to plunge back into my college years by digging into the first prog rock label I ever knew. For better or worse? Well, Magna Carta is known for hosting the Good (Shadow Gallery, Enchant), the Bad (too many) and the Ugly (tribute albums we don't care about).

I already got a taste of Magellan 10 years ago...and I remember now why I didn't dug further. If I was in 1992 and didn't knew anything else, I would have been over the moon with it. But now, that voice, that annoying way of singing of Trent Gardner is really shaking up my soda, to be polite. It's hard to describe but, it feels like the guy is trying too hard. He's not yelling but he's giving way too much all the time. In fact, Magellan IS TRYING TOO HARD all the frickin' time. I read somewhere 'they need to calm down'. It's spot on!! They really do need to take a chill pill.

The music is very americanish: Styx and Kansas (ugh...) are their fuel of choice and I frankly could use a bit more nuance in their songwriting. It's not that it's bad (some segments really kicks ass), it's just too intense; and it's even not prog metal! I can name hundred prog metal albums with more subtlety! It tries too hard to be entertaining and unfortunately goes the other way.

Magellan is like that little book of jokes that made you laugh so much when you were a kid: it isn't funny anymore because you just grew out of it.