SOUL CAGES

That said, a better intro to the band would probably be their 1990s albums, like Moments and Craft, because The Moon is more harder and fast - relatively speaking of course - and I think that the clean and pensive is what they do best. As often happens, when its loud, some of the wonderful melodies end up buried. And all songs here feature some cool original melodic lines. Be warned - even Soul Cages are not inaccessible, they do require repeated listens to sink in. But if you have time to spare, in the end you will be satisfied by discovering another hidden gem in the vast prog metal world.

Soul Cages return to discography with "Moon", 14 years after "Craft" - and their return is what the fans would have expected: a typical or rather "classic" Soul Cages album, following the same recipe of success and most of all the unique character of the band.

The quality and the lyrical approach are still there, the clean guitars are dominating the quirky melodies and the distorted riffs bring to the surface that Rush influence a little bit more. The tone of the accented (male) and beautiful female vocals remains intact, the combination creates the haunting atmospheres of the art-rock type of progressive metal that Soul Cages profess. Self-produced this time, "Moon" sounds quite dynamic but pays more attention to the emotion and the unconventional melodies.

Comparisons to the artistic early 90's Sieges Even albums are acceptable but don't get hung on that, since Soul Cages make a sound of their own. A band that likes to remain "underground" has released one of the best albums of 2013, following what they know to do best. Not a masterpiece per se but a declaration of honest, quality progressive metal.

Best moment: Beautiful, Point One.

The only way to get the CD is via [email protected].

With thanks to Joerg for sending me the album.

For those unfamiliar with Soul Cages' sound, expect a kind of an art rock / progressive metal blend with strong German-accented vocals (one of the potential low points in their music if you are that picky). The progressive metal they play I consider as innovative, influenced by late 80's Fates Warning and Sieges Even, but what defines their sound is the simultaneous use of distorted and clean guitars that creates a series of textures and distinguishes them from the masses. The female vocals are once again used with caution, injecting the magic when not expected, ultimately contributing massively to SC's very melodic character.

The first half of the album is more or less a continuation of "Soul Cages" with three long, mid-tempo and beautifully laid out compositions; this type of songwriting I see as equal to the first epics of Shadow Gallery that set the scene of the progressive metal to come in the 90's and beyond. There is limited use of keyboards; on the contrary what creates the atmospheres is the combination of clean/distorted guitars. The first half - and most interesting part of this album - concludes with an "arpeggio" that lasts about a minute, while the three tracks that open the album are among the best in SC's career, with 'Moments' summing up the qualities of the band.

Side two begins and ends with tracks on a more dynamic power/progressive metal pattern; while still at mid-tempo, the focus here is on the delivery of riffs and pounding drums, with the occasional melodic intervals. 'In our Hands' is potentially the weakest track of the album, but even there, the grandiose ending with the use of early Fates Warning/Iron Maiden riffology leaves a positive mark. 'My Spiritual Home' is another example of German power/prog metal in the vein of Sanvoisen and Vanden Plas, with the latter getting all the glory that the other two never enjoyed. 'Elegy' is the high point in side two, where SC find the balance between melody and virtuosity, similar to side one. 'Impressions' is the purely acoustic track of the album, a repeat of the pattern in 'Mindtrip' from their debut album, that works just as fine: simple, deep melodies with male and female vocals interchanging.

"Moments" has been the last of the three albums in SC's discography that I discovered and does not disappoint. Although I would still consider their debut as their best effort, there are Moments of true brilliance here that reminds us how sometimes excellent music does not get the recognition that it deserves. Another 4 stars in a discography that has never gone wrong.

The title of a recent thread describes perfectly the debut album of these great German prog-metallers. SOUL CAGES present a successful mixture of art rock and progressive metal with an eclectic touch. Within the 40 minutes that this album lasts, the talent of these musicians is revealed through a vast number of original ideas, disproportionate to the album length and rare in these times of Dream Theater and Queensryche clones.

The album bears the ''freshness'' of the 90's in prog-metal but also a strange originality. The most eclectic element of the sound is the eccentric, German-accent vocals that might discourage the listener at the first instance. However flawed the vocals are, the combination with the ethereal female vocals at several instances generates a ''magic'' atmosphere. The speed of the compositions generally ranges in mid-tempos. The strong asset of the album is by far the excellent musicianship - technically it approaches perfection. Heavy/power metal riffs build on the solid bass/drum rhythm section with numerous prog breaks. The twin guitars resemble to 80's classic metal but also to the early Fates Warning albums. Despite the heaviness of the guitars, all lines are based on melodic ideas, following a similar approach with the early 90's albums of Sieges Even (e.g. Steps, A Sense of Change) but excluding the use of symphonic instruments, violins etc and concentrating on guitar melodies.

The album comprises of 6 medium length compositions (5-7 minutes) and 2 short tracks (Uncommunicado, a melodic acoustic intro to the title track and Rainbow, the melancholic piano-based album outro). The album appears unconventional even in structure, as the short tracks appear towards the end with no intention to ''break'' the sequence. However, the use of Mindtrip might be serving this purpose, being the mellower track of the album, based heavily on acoustic guitars, beautiful melodic vocals lines and enchanting female voices.

The technical elements appear on the rest of the compositions which represent the majority in SOUL CAGES' songwriting. Slow and heavy melodic riffs usually interchange with acoustic and more sophisticated passages, as it happens on the title track. Reflections and the opening track can be described as the most technically complex ones while I personally regard New Horizons and Actors of no Return as the highlights. The former starts of melodically and slowly builds up to a Queensryche-like riff while the latter is possibly the band's most complete composition with excellent riffs and a unique use of female vocals.

The production of the album, although clear, does not ''boost'' the compositions and the sound of the drums sometimes sounds ''empty''. This, along with the sometimes ''awkward''-sounding vocals are the only drawbacks to an otherwise absolutely essential album to prog-metal fans. Although this band has not received the proper recognition, I would unreservedly place this album next to the masterpieces of bands like Fates Warning, Shadow Gallery etc.

I believe the fact that they have signed a contract with Massacre Records did not help them to get the recognition they deserved; often acknowledged as a metal and/or underground band. To my knowledge, the only two countries that have musically 'accepted' them are Germany and Greece. To some extent, their limited recognition is understandable due to the eclectic nature of their sound. A major contributor to this element is the characteristic German accent in the (almost eccentric) male vocals which can sometimes prevent the listeners from appreciating the music.

The second component of this eclectic character is the unusual nature of the melodies; unconventional melodies that are often dressed with beautiful, atmospheric female vocals and bizarre arrangements and harmonies. Riff-wise, the listener can hear several similarities with guitar sounds in Queensryche's (A Part of Me) and Fates Warning's (Imprisoned) late 80's releases; however, the outcome does not resemble directly to these bands and remains quite unique in nature. It is interesting to refer to those female vocals again which time and again generate a gothic, doom feeling (The Light of Day), relatively uncommon in this genre.

In addition to the previous, here you can find some technically challenging prog metal with peculiar time signatures (Result of Convenience, Pressure) that reminds of early Sieges Even and Watchtower. Although all these aspects can be successfully employed to describe CRAFT's musical directions, the main outcome remains an alloy of melodic - in its own way - prog metal. This is evident throughout the album and mostly in tracks like Falling (reminds me of brilliant Shadow Gallery melodies) which is the highlight. The inclusion of Piano and Before balances out the more technical elements of this release with simple, though deep, melodies.

I can not decide if CRAFT is musically at the same level as the band's debut but to my ears is still approaching the term 'masterpiece' and it is highly recommended to prog fans who want to challenge themselves and get out of their comfort zone.