LIGHT OF DAY, DAY OF DARKNESS

An hour long epic of conceptual prog metal sounds great, eh? Not so fast. Shakes and Pat have this one nailed pretty good and I'll just second them. This is an ambitious album with some great parts and decent moments but overall is not as impressive as advertised to this reviewer.

Never has an album cried out for an edit job of 20 minutes more than this one. As a 40 minute piece this would be a much better album. There are so many minutes of plodding in the first half, the second half of this album is certainly the better half. The space from around 40:15 to 44:00 is especially nice with some soft piano building into a lofty electric solo that is quite emotional. One impression of this album is that it reminded me a bit of the musical color of Sabbath's old song "Heaven and Hell." Good song of course, but it clocks in at 7 minutes. To me, "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" (even the title is cumbersome!) is like taking the musical ideas of something like "Heaven and Hell" and stretching them to one hour for the apparent prog cred of having an hour long piece, without making sure there is enough quality and variety to support the length. I don't feel there is but you'll note many respected reviewers disagree so decide for yourself.

The CD booklet is nice with lyrics and great photography. But a far cry from In The Wood's "Omnio." Many good moments with lots of filler in between, but far from essential. 3 stars.