LUNASENSE

This is not a Black Sabbath album, but looks like a lot!

Lunasense is the second album by bulgarian progressive metal band Pantommind from Gabrovo. These my compatriots show really big potential with this release. Lunasense is one very well produced album in classic progressive metal manner. This adorable album is full of surprises and tempo changes. It is without analogue in Bulgaria. One of the main thoughts I want to share is the fact, that this album looks like quite much so. Especially, Tony Martin fronted line-up of Black Sabbath. The voice of the vocalist is much similar to Tony Martin's. Pantommind sites Black Sabbath as main influence and you can feel that in most of the songs.

Of course, this means the album contains strong heavy metal taste, too! The musicianship is excellent and the songwriting is strongly above average. I am sure this album can please most of the metal fans (I mean heavy, progressive, power metal fans) and of course, highly recommended for Black Sabbath fans . It probably can please fans of eclectic, symphonic and heavy prog subgenres of progressive rock. The best song on Sunasense is My Home (Into Infinity) . It is real masterpiece of progressive metal music with an appropriate folky motif. The other very good songs are Transmission part I and II , Sandglass and Letter to No One . All other songs are good, without any weak. This album is suitable for frequent use. Probably, the best bulgarian album here on PA! 3.75 stars

PANTOMMIND are back ! It's been four years since their masterpiece "Shade Of Fate" was released, this their second album is titled "Lunasense". Cool cover art by the way.

"Transmission Part I" is the opening instrumental. Orchestral sounding keys to start before the heaviness kicks in.The guitar takes the lead before a minute. After 2 minutes a female says "Transmission complete" then it kicks in harder. "Erasable Tears" kicks in fairly quickly. The guitar is lighting it up big time. Vocals before a minute are welcomed. He seems to sing in a higher range than on the first album. It settles before 2 minutes with spoken words. It kicks back in with ripping guitar. Vocals return. "Wolf" is a top three for me. It opens with church bells as the wind blows. Riffs follow then keyboards join in. Vocals after a minute. Great sound. Some crunch to this one. Blistering guitar before 3 1/2 minutes. What a vocal performance though. "Sandglass" is another top three. Gentle guitar to open. Restrained vocals join in. It kicks in at 1 1/2 minutes. How catchy is this ! Contrasts continue. "Letter To No One" kicks in quickly with vocals. It settles before 2 minutes and keyboards join in. Nice guitar solo a minute later. It's fairly powerful the rest of the way. "To The Days Of Old" opens with keyboards before we get some heaviness with synths. It settles with vocals. It kicks back in as contrasts continue. Excellent tune. It's heavy with synths to end it.

"Blank" opens with deep bass sounds as the guitar comes in. It's heavy before a minute then the tempo picks up. Vocals follow. I like this one a lot. "Transmission Part II" is also an instrumental like the opening track. Piano to start as synths join in. That's what we get throughout. "My Home (Into Infinity)" opens with synths as the heaviness joins in. Vocals follow as the tempo continues to shift. Tasteful guitar 3 minutes in that goes on and on. "I'll Never Be The Same" is my final top three. This really reminds me of FATES WARNING early. Lots of atmosphere before the vocals arrive a minute in even sounding like Adler. It picks up after 2 minutes before settling back as themes are repeated. Thanks for that song guys.

So a really good album but one that pales when compared to the debut in my opinion. Still worth 4 stars though.

Pantommind's second album from 2009 named Lunasense is a kick in the face release, this is solid as rock prog metal, hardly I've belived that they will come with a second offer so inspired and so excelent played. From the opening track , the instrumental Transmission Part I , the listner knows what to expect from this great bulgarian band. To tell the truth and with my hand on heart this album is even better then the first who was already a very strong prog metal album, this Lunasense kick ass on every single piece. The musicianship is very good and very skillful arrangements, with some passges being simply amazing like the 1 and half min intro on the second piece Erasable Tears, man the sound of the guitar from here is mindblowing , really, what a piece, what a guitarist, top notch for sure. The album goes like this on every piece, Wolf and then Sandglass being my fav from here, excellent. The voice is brilliant for this kind of prog metal, Tony Ivan has a powerfull voice who is very influenced by another Tony - Tony Martin the one from Black Sabbath fame, very similar in tone of voice. Is not a bad thing because I love that period from Black Sabbath albums like Headless cross or Cross purposes are among my fav BS albums, Lunasesnse is very much in same cathegory, musical speaking not only on vocal department. Crafted passges with keybords being mainly as suported instrument but in some parts has some magnificent moments like on Sandglass or Wolf, really solid album overall. In the end a recommended album for sure, this is one of the most pleasent prog metal albums in last years offered by a band from Eastern Europe. These bulgarians did it big time, 4 stars easy. They need a wider recognition, Pantommind really knows to creat brilliant prog metal, better then most of the well known bands from this field. Great cover art for sure.