PROGRESSIVE METAL

As with "A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming" from two years previously, "Crowning of Atlantis" should not be taken into consideration when examining the Therion time-line. Like that album, this is really a compilation gathering together odds and sods (for want of a better expression) from around the period. That is not to say this set is devoid of value, but simply to put things in context.

Originally planned by as an EP by Christofer Johnsson, the record company decided that they wanted it expanded into a full length CD release. The three new tracks were therefore augmented by a collection of live tracks and some more cover versions.

The opening title track would, according to Johnsson, have ended up on the next proper album "Deggial" had it not appeared here. It is certainly the best of the bunch, featuring all the operatics and orchestrations which made "Vovin" such a fine album. Clearly putting the most appealing songs up front, the following "Mark of Cain" is a track recorded for, but omitted from, "Vovin". Johnsson was not satisfied with the version of the song which was prepared for "Vovin", hence its omission. He worked on it further for this album, resulting in a guitar driven piece which would have been worthy of that album.

The song "Clavicula Nox" had already made it onto "Vovin", but Johnsson felt that the ideas he had for it had not been fully realised. Whether there is anything newly recorded for this 9 minute version is not clear, the official notation being that this is a remix. In any event, the result is superb.

The first of the covers is "Crazy nights", NOT the similarly named Kiss song but a more obscure number by a band called Loudness. This rendition could actually be by Kiss, being a straightforward slice of hairspray rock. "From The Dionysian Days" was recorded during the "Vovin" sessions, but omitted on the grounds that it did not fit musically. The eclectic nature of this compilation therefore make it the ideal home for the song. In retrospect, I reckon this piece would have fitted in fine on "Vovin" and thus serves to enhance the appeal of this album. The operatic singing is slightly less formal here and the guitar work smoother, leading to a bit of a middle of the road feel.

"Thor (The powerhead)" is a cover of a song by Manowar from their "Sign of the Hammer" album. As with "Crazy nights", this rendition is pretty faithful to the original, and thus sounds quite remote from the style Therion have now made their own. The final cover is of "Seawinds", originally by Accept. In this case, unlike the other covers, Johnsson reinvents the piece as a Therion original. The acoustic base and 60's type harmonies combine to form a light but beautiful number which might have made for a successful single release had it been recorded 20 years earlier.

The album closes with the traditional way of filling unused space on an album, i.e. a trio of live versions of songs we have heard before. These were recorded on the 1998 tour (as a support band) to promote "Vovin". It is not clear however how much of what we hear is actually performed live, and how much is pre-recorded. The three songs, one from each of "Theli", "Vovin" and "Lepaca Kliffoth" come across well. Given though that a major part of the appeal of the music of Therion is the way the songs are arranged and recorded in the studio, these versions are largely sueprflouous.

In all, a decent gathering of diverse material. As such, the album does not flow well and pretty much all the worthwhile stuff is upfront. Enjoyable in the same way as a greatest hits package might be.

As you guessed from my Images and Words review, this kind of progressive metal isn't really my kind of thing. But before you think I'm a Dream Theatre hater you should know that I am a very relentless music pit-bull and that I won't condemn or give up on a band just because they disappointed me once.

I've always thought Dream Theatre found their true voice on Awake. The playing is tight and functional, the production is excellent, the song writing is consistently strong. Ok, there still are cheesy moment as on Innocence Faded and Lifting Shadows, but it are exceptions. The music is cleared of its excesses; it's harder edged, with Metallica as a dominant inspiration.

For me, the most surprising element is Labrie. As much as he got on my nerves on Images and Words, as much he is in control of his voice here. Ok, he's still the type of vocalist that confuses hitting high notes with emotion, but his melodies are strong now and there is true passion and bite in his delivery.

If it wasn't for the occasional moments where they still remind me of the melodrama of the previous album, I might rate this with 5 stars.

Around the time of this release I had a short flirt with Dream Theatre, which was entirely based on the opening track Pull Me Under. Most of the other songs didn't appeal much to me and guess what? They still don't.

Another Day is a cheesy ballad complete with syrupy saxophone and sticky vocals. Horrible. Take That Time isn't much better but at least it tries to be complicated, something Dream Theatre often confuses with progressive. The music isn't very remarkable though, something between Rush around the time of Hold Your Fire and the kind of cross-over that was popular back in 1992. The vocals are terrible: annoying timbre and tacky melodies. Surrounded is another attempt to beat Elton John at cheesiness.

Metropolis. The intro is nicked from Saga, the melodies aren't very convincing and the composition is worthless. Well at least they try to make the music interesting, something that works reasonably well till they head off for that instrumental section around minute 6. Warning! Pointless solos and instrument abuse alert.

Under A Glass Moon is a decent track with some good rhythm guitar. Again the vocals could have been better and the solos are pointless and self-important. Well, we've had so much dreary stuff already that anything is an improvement. The same can be said about Learning To Live.

As a prog lover I've always found this album to be one of the worst things that ever happened to the genre. By the focus on virtuosic self-indulgence, Dream Theatre extracted everything that was dreadful about 70's prog and discarded everything that had made it so wonderful. If you look for originality, creativity, innovation, adventure, emotion and substance, you shouldn't pick up this album.

It is very unfortunate that exactly this very album served as an example for a whole generation of neo-prog-metal bands that clutter the genre. Mind you, I don't care that they exist, if you like them then that's all the better for you, I just wished this wouldn't be called progressive rock, not for any formal or technical reason, but simply because they lack all the qualities of it. Pull Me Under saves the album from one star.

I'm not generally much of a symphonic-metal fan and most of my experiences have not been pleasant ones. So I was pretty surprised when this band clicked with me. Sinestesia are from Trieste and have been around for over a decade. They are billed as being influenced by a mix of symphonic progressive (Italian and English) with Dream Theater style metal. And that sounds about right, Adagio and Symphony X (without orchestration) may be other reference points. I'll cut right to the chase. The individual musicians are as technically gifted as their peers in Dream Theater (or at least close) and the playing styles are sometimes similar: heavy, bombastic, and shred-filled. But there is something much more appealing to Sinestesia. There are melodies and compositional nuances that immediately grabbed and interested me. There are some '70s Rush and Floyd influences that sometimes permeate the proceedings and the mixture was intoxicating. I'm not a shred or a blast drumming fan but they are used with restraint here and are complimentary to the melodic and powerful charge of the tracks, they add rather than distract. Vocals are in English and the singer can occasionally wander into Labrie annoyance territory with the dramatic wailing but for the most part stays below that line. He's actually every bit as good as the players in the band, passionate and with great range. The keys are a big part of why I like this: rather than the cheesy synth sound often employed by modern acts the keys here frequently sound like mellotron, adding that soft balance to the power. The 12-minute powerhouse "Aquarium" is a standout that begins with a great Rush like bass part and moves through a nice dreamy section with acoustic guitar before finally a flurry of fireworks by everyone. "The End?" is a power ballad that manages to avoid formula with a heavy right hook that kicks in after the chorus. A truly solid work showcasing a promising band. Also of note is the production by PFM's Franz Di Cioccio and the nice gatefold mini-lp sleeve edition of the release. Highly recommended to melodic metal fans.

I find Queensrÿche to be a fairly inconsistent band overall. It's actually kind of a shame because Operation: Mindcrime was a genre-defining album, but aside from that they haven't released many other great albums. Maybe only 3 other albums of theirs are worthy of a four star rating. And in those albums they show their excellence, but they really haven't shown it much since Promised Land.

With American Soldier, Queensrÿche has a sort of return-to-form, and this has some really great songs on it. Nothing on this album is "bad" so to speak, but there is a fair amount of filler, with a good portion of the songs really not being memorable at all. There are a few great songs that ultimately overrule the weaker ones, but that doesn't deny the fact that a good half of this album is not anything special.

On top of that, this album does get pretty formulaic very quickly, and it can get very predictable. There are a few small twists in a few songs, but for the majority it is standard verse-chorus-verse American heavy metal music. This is not nessacerily a bad thing, though. Some of my favorite albums are just straightforward metal. I'm just pointing out that this isn't even remotely progressive. This ends up being a little bit of a problem being that this album is an hour in length. Simply put, this album doesn't have enough standout content to be worthy of an hour of my time. While it is by no means bad, there is nothing here that hasn't been done before.

With that said, there are some great songs here, and the musicianship is top notch. Queensrÿche won't have a 10 minute shred fest, but they show what they're worth in American Soldier. A few great guitar solos, some memorable riffs, excellent vocals from Geoff Tate, and great melodies make this album far from failure. However, you will notice the same flaw burdens the majority of the album in the track-by-track review.

THE MUSIC:

"Sliver"- An upbeat riff opens up the first song. It almost sounds like rapping occasionally on this song, but soon Geoff Tate delivers a pretty good vocal performance. This song initially made me think "what happened?", but I now find it to be a pretty solid opener. If you were to listen to this song after finishing up Operation: Mindcrime, you would realize that Queensrÿche has a much different, more grunge-oriented sound here, in contrast to their earlier traditional heavy metal direction.

"Unafraid"- The second song here is very strong, and is one of my favorites on the album. After a short spoken word introduction, a light drum riff, vocals and guitar enter. A heavy riff follows that, but the chorus is really catchy here. It has a great guitar solo later in the song.

"Hundred Mile Stare"- After a brief opening, a rhythmic guitar and drum riff enters. The vocals here are pretty good, and I like the use of multiple vocal parts. It's got a good enough chorus, and some nice bridges.

"At 30,000 Feet"- The spoken word introduction portrays the feeling of being at war well, and soon a beautiful guitar rhythm enters. The chorus is particularly good in this song. Another solid song.

"A Dead Man's Words"- An ominous guitar melody is the theme to this song, and a metal section soon follows. This has some pretty good use of keyboards thrown in to make this song kind of cool. The chorus can get pretty annoying though.

"The Killer"- This song starts with an upbeat riff, and this is a pretty fast moving song. I love the verses, and this has some great melodies, and the chorus is pretty good. Another pretty predictable song, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this has some excellent songwriting.

"Middle of Hell"- A drum beat opens up this rather unmemorable song. Despite a pretty good guitar solo, there is nothing here that really stands out. Of course it's every bit as predictable as the earlier songs, but this doesn't have the excellent riffs and melodies the other ones have.

"If I Were King"- By about now the album starts to get boring. I'm not going to lie, but there are a few good songs near the beginning and end, but the middle is pure filler. I kind of like the verses here, but this song is very formulaic, and by about now I'm waiting for something unexpected to happen. Unfortunately, this song doesn't respond to my requests.

"Man Down!"- The verses are painfully annoying. They're clearly trying to relive their glory days in the late 80's and early 90's, but it isn't working out. I like the chorus though, and it has a nice contrast between the guitar riff and vocals. Not a terrible song, but it could have been a lot better.

"Remember Me"- What a change over the past few songs! The last three songs on this album are all the highlights, and this is when the album really begins. A moody verse, and beautiful chorus make this song very good. Of course, it still is verse-chorus-verse, but it is a very solid composition.

"Home Again"- This is my personal favorite song on the album. This portrays the feeling of a father at war exchanging letters with his daughter. The duet between Geoff Tate and his daughter Emily fits the mood of this beautiful song perfectly. If more of the album had been like this I swear I would have given it a 5. It is definitely worth hearing this song at all costs, though.

"The Voice"- After the excellent previous song, Queensrÿche follows it up with another highlight of the album. I absolutely love the riffs on this song, and I think Geoff Tate does an excellent job vocally. Again, I can't help but see the excellence in this song that isn't present on the rest of the album. The excellent ending gets me every time.

Conclusion:

American Soldier has a lot of potential. The last 3 songs are pure gold, but a good amount of the album is forgettable. If Queensrÿche would have made this a shorter album, or put more great material here, this would be one of the best 2009 albums. Unfortunately, that isn't true. However, this album is worth hearing for any Queensrÿche fan, or anyone who's looking for some pretty good prog metal. Nothing here brings anything new to the genre, but for people looking to play it safe with a very professional and high-quality band, American Soldier may be for you.

3 stars.

I appreciate that Dream Theater pays tribute to their influences and helps spread the sound of Pink Floyd to more people who may not usually listen to it. However, in the end it was nothing more than a decent cover that pales in comparison to the masterpiece that is the original album.

"Vovin" should be looked upon as the follow up to the excellent "Theli", the intervening "A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming" being a convenient gathering together of unreleased material which was gathering dust. The album title is taken from the Enochian word for Dragon, a creature which appears regularly in Therion's themes.

Once again, band founder and leader Christofer Johnsson would completely change the line up of the band, bringing in lead guitarist Tommy Erisson plus a new bassist and drummer. The orchestral and choral aspects were also subject to even greater investment, with operatic soloists being added where required.

The orchestra used here is not yet a full one, that will come on future albums. The string section who are used though, announce their arrival in the opening bars of "The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah". The song has something of a "Kashmir" feel to it, with a similar rhythm structure, Arabian overtones and dramatic orchestration. The choral vocals however distinguish the piece, which evolves as a true Therion classic. For me, the following "Birth of Venus Illegitima" ticks all the boxes, and stands as Therion's best song thus far. The slightly melancholy mood of the song is brought to its full potential through a surprisingly complex, yet utterly captivating arrangement.

"Wine of Aluqah" is the first track on the album to delve into the Gothic metal of Therion's past, with double paced drumming driving a guitar heavy piece at reckless speed. Even here though, the magnificent female choirs serve to soften the blows. The lengthy "Clavicula Nox", which runs to just under 9 minutes, is a brooding, slightly looser affair, which relies to a greater extent on the excellent orchestration. Listening to this piece, one has to stop and think just how far the band have come from their early days. In contrast, "The Wild Hunt" is an all out dash to the finish through a much more metal orientated, but still operatic, number.

The classical female lead vocal on "Eye of Shiva" immediately reminds us of Nightwish, but the song is generally more majestic than the music of that band. The alternating of a full choir and stunning lead guitar towards the end of the piece may bring a tear to the eye, such is the power of the music. "Black sun" focuses once again on the power metal side, but oh those wonderful voices.

Three tracks combine late on in the album to form a mini-suite sub-titled "The Draconian Trilogy". "The opening" naturally opens the suite in suitably pompous fashion with strings being sawed and floating lead guitars leading to Gothic chanting. "Morning star" is the heavy core of the trilogy, the vocals being darker and moodier than anywhere else on the album. The third part of the suite, "Black diamonds" once again tugs on the emotions, climaxing in a quite exquisite solo violin piece. The album closes with "Raven of Dispersion", an operatic metal ballad if you will, which benefits from a slightly quirky arrangement.

On later releases, a bonus track "The king" is included. This cover of a song by Accept is a more conventional piano based song with female lead vocal. A pleasant diversion, but no more than that.

As is probably clear by now, those who enjoy the music of bands such as Nightwish, Rhapsody (of fire), Within Temptation, etc. will undoubtedly find Therion to be fully compatible with their tastes. With Operatic, Symphonic, "Hollywood" metal such as this, it is the quality of the arrangements more than the quality of the songs themselves which distinguishes the great from the good. For my money, Therion at this point are up there at the top of their class... and this is without a doubt one of their finest recordings.

I got this album after "The Odyssey" and "Paradise Lost" because I was craving to hear more about Symphony X than just the 2 albums I just mentioned.

After my first listen, I was disappointed. Where are the catchy riffs? Where is all the rage and power? This seems to be too convoluted and a little too pompous. Sure "Egypt" did stand out but I wasn't thrilled with anything else. It is not bad, but why did everybody gave so high a rating? I was confused?

Then came the time when I thought I should write a review about this. I gave it a few more spins. It still looked too complicated to me but I started to like some other parts here and there. I was trying too hard to rate and evaluate each song. I was still missing the point.

Almost when I was going to give up on it, I realized that I should look at it as whole. And then, it clicked. No point in trying to describe each song here. Just let the music guide you from one song to another. There is a lot to like if you persevere listening to this album.

It gets heavy when it needs to just like at the beginning of "Evolution (the grand design)". I really like the classical approach in between song. The way each song flows into another is truly amazing. Take the end of "Transcendence" going into "Communion and the Oracle" as just an example of many fine moments.

For you, it might just click right away. For me it took a while, but I am sure glad that I gave this CD a chance. It was worth discovering and getting familiar with!

Not sure if this review would make sense to you, but it does make sense to me. And yes, it has grown enough on me that I will give it 5 stars!

The only thing they prove for me is their inability to come up with anything new and inspired. Most of the 4 minute songs here wear thin by the time they get halfway; the few exceptions that you might live through are sure to bore you to death after 3 listens. The song writing is really poor, sticking to unimaginative hard rock and metal riffs that have been around for 35 years.

Therion aren't capable to come up with anything interesting anymore. Every note on this album has been played before, either by other bands, or by Therion themselves, as they do not shy away from self-plagiarism. This album sounds completely uninvolved. It's sterile, polished, monotonous, dull and flat, operatic metal at its most cliché and hollow impersonation.

The only reason I've been able to churn out two stars is because Serius B is even worse. Here, at least the opening tracks Typhon and Uthark Runa still offer a hint of what Therion used to be.