UNFOLD THE FUTURE

The Flower Kings

Symphonic Prog

3.90 | 634 ratings

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Flucktrot
Prog Reviewer

More is less, less is more, and too much is and always has been too much.

Unfold the Future is WAY too much. It's not a concept album, and it's not a coherent album. Every idea, whim and fancy the Flower Kings had probably found its way on this album. Maybe it resulted in some otherwise unexplored ideas that ultimately worked, but it also resulted in tons of filler.

Don't get me wrong: the presence of some duds and dead moments doesn't make the good music on Unfold the Future any less good, but the forgettable moments do impact the quality of the album as a whole.

Fortunately, the epics are the highlights, and they contain some great moments--particularly the introductions/overtures, grand finales, controlled jams and other symphonic moments. The Flower Kings can produce big, massive and beautiful symphonic sounds like few others, but the impact of these sections is often lessened by filler or down moments. For example, the Flower Kings have a tendency to follow a wonderful intro by dying the music down to simple vocals on the main verse accompanied only by minimal piano or guitar. Maybe it's Stolt's voice (fair, to be sure, but cannot carry the day by itself), the lack of countermelody, or something else, but they just aren't very interesting during these moments.

If not for these limitations, some of their epics might be absolute classics, because Jonas' huge bass, Stolt's wailing guitar, and Bodin's largely tasteful choices in keys work very well together. All this is strengthened in the epic moments by some very strong vocal harmonies as well. These guys really do have a lot of musical ability.

The non-epics? Well, if you can't say anything nice, then....well...I probably just don't have much to say.

As the Flower Kings' future unfolds, I'll be looking for more great prog and less filler. However, this album does indeed have some great prog, which always counts for something!

Flucktrot | 3/5 | 2010-5-20

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