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Ayreon - Transitus CD (album) cover

TRANSITUS

Ayreon

 

Progressive Metal

3.37 | 87 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

The Jester
4 stars Review # 109.

Transitus is the new Rock opera by Ayreon, which, I pre-ordered a few months ago, in the red vinyl version, which also includes a comic book with the story, signed by Arjen. I guess because of that, a few days ago, I received an e-mail with a code for the digital version of the album. So, while I am waiting for my order to arrive, I had the chance to listen to the album before its original release.

Have in mind that my review (or my point of view if you like), is based on the 3-4 times that I listened to the album so far. Maybe in the future, I will change my mind for better or worse, but for the moment, I believe that it is a very enjoyable, well-crafted album, with lots of wonderful moments in it.

Once more, Arjen gathered around him a big number of musicians and singers, but some of the usual names are missing; but there are some "newcomers" instead, like for example, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, or Paul Manzi of Arena.

This time, Arjen Lucassen left aside his usual sci-fi themes, and created a dark story from the 1800's. Well, maybe the story is a bit cheesy, but we are not talking about a movie here, so that's not a problem. (For me at least).

Starting from the impressive and kind of gloomy intro (Fatum Horrificum), the story takes shape, as more and more characters are included in it. At the beginning of most songs, there is a narrator included, who gives us information about what is going to happen in the story, and this is something I really like. Let's not forget that this is not a simple album; it's a Rock Opera, with many characters and a plot, so we must somehow be informed of what's going on.

As I wrote on some of my older reviews, when it comes to Rock operas, I cannot separate the songs, because I see it as a whole puzzle with many pieces; and for that reason, I will not get into details for each song. Yes, there are some very good songs, and some others, maybe not so good ones, but each song serves its purpose I guess. To move the story further ahead.

Finishing this, I have to say that I am very pleased with my purchase, despite that it cost me double the price you will see in Ayreon's shop, because of the postal fee, but I am not regretting it at all, because this is a very enjoyable album for me. Give it a chance, it deserves it! My Rating: 4.0 stars

The Jester | 4/5 |

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