SEVEN TEARS

Hailing from Sweden, Seven Tears is a talented young act that released a single album several years back. While the genre of progressive metal is generally considered a scene that caters only to extremely technical instrumentation and focuses on blowing the competition away through musical firepower, Seven Tears seems to trail off the beaten path by centering their act around something different entirely; the sense of melody.

Taking the particular blend of progressive rock and metal that was pioneered by Dream Theater and adding a hefty dose of melodic AOR, Seven Tears sounds more reminiscent of arena fillers like Journey and Foreigner than their metal contemporaries. While I have always been of the belief that all too many prog rock artists overlook melody (a central factor for good, moving music) Seven Tears rarely crosses the boundary into the realm of really fantastic music, and even when they do, it is most often in short lived spurts.

Despite being evidently talented (the band was in their teens at the time of recording,) they seem to fall into the rut of generic melodic rock/metal more often than not. It may just be a matter of personal taste (I have never found the style of arena oriented rock to be of much interest) but much of the music here feels uninspired. While the musicians (particularly the strong vocal work of Zoran Djorem) do well to compliment the music, the songwriting is tired and predictable, with a few refreshing exceptions.

The opener 'Twist Of Fate' is one such exception to the string of mediocrity here. In fact, the first few tracks are incredibly promising, giving strong melodies atop some proggy instrumental work. By the time the fourth and fifth tracks roll by however, it's impossible not to notice that the flow of the album is slowing down and relying more and more on the quality of the chorus; making the rest of the songs feel like a mildly irritating intermission between brief spurts of energy. In any case, the album picks up again with the excellent song 'The Story Unfolds' which while short-lived, gives the second half of the album a sense of partial (albeit unrealized) fulfillment.

While there is 'nothing new under the sun' here indeed, Seven Tears shows that while not necessarily being the most consistent songwriters, have musical chops and skill. Excellent (although possibly overdone) production and a few great moments make this an album thats worth giving a few listens to. However, it is unlikely worth the purchase, due to the fact that the same overused tricks can only be played so many times before losing interest entirely.