JEREMIAS - FORESHADOW OF FORGOTTEN REALMS

Looking at the cover of this new CD, I was expecting another power symphonic metal album with female vocals, and listening to the music, i was surprised to hear the complexity and the splendor of the music. Most of the songs starts like a movie soundtrack and the beginning of the CD let you perplexed when you hear a disco groove from the old days, but it's just a short intrusion before the progressive metal take over. There is plenty of symphonic and classical arrangements, here, but the vocals are also a real treat on this CD. The female vocals and male vocals are interchanging each others to give you a rock opera feel. There is some vocal part taken from Pain of Salvation book. Some jazz piano lines contrast the heavy riffs guitar parts. The female vocals are more present further in the CD. We have many tempo changes throughout this long 80 minutes epic CD, and many influences from some big names in the progressive rock world : (Haken, Dream Theater and Neil Morse). A very impressive CD that may have take a lot of hours to do, because of the complexity of the music and arrangements, but the most important is that it's something very enjoyable to hear for progressive rock fans.