QUIET WORLD

Blending of many musical styles with ease, excellent musicianship and composition, and a awesome musical AND lyrical concept make Quiet World a exceptional masterpiece. Influences from Between the Buried and Me, Haken, Queen, and classical music mix together to form something original and outstanding. The vocal and guitar lines lead the way through complicated time signatures and layered orchestra with amazing persision and range. The concept, which is a love story, is molded with the music very well. The tender moments in the lyrics match the music perfectly, and so does the angry or bombastic moments. If I had to nitpick, Your Familiar Face and Chromatic Lights aren't as impressive as the longer prog epics that surround them, but they aren't filler. Your Familiar Face gives a nice laid back, poppier break from the complicated masterworks like Passage or The Spark of the Archon. The 2 minute Chromatic Lights brings back several themes, shows off great guitar skill, and introduces the behemoth 12 minute Chromatic Aberration nicely.

My favorite song has to be Chromatic Aberration, the longest song and last song on the album that brings together all the musical inspirations introduced and adds in a little Haken-y quirkyness. It is perfectly built and performed, and the two part ending, both the blistering metal section and the beautiful melodic part, is just exilirating.

If you are a fan of metal, symphonic prog, or just excellently written songs give this a listen.