SECTION X

The second studio effort of this excellent prog metal band at first could be a disappointment due to the absence of Jorn Lande. However, fortunately Finn Zierler found a good substitute in Kelly Sundown Carpenter. The guy shows a very solid vocal work and the album is somewhat in the spirit of the debut. On the other hand, perhaps due to the impact of the debut, this second album, at least for me, lacks punch. Don't misunderstand me: this is surely a good prog metal album by itself, but compared to the previous effort I think it lose some impact. Again no track is bad or filler, but my favs are 4. Sleeping Beauty, with soft and heavy vocals, showing the versatility of the vocalist; 5. The Dark Side remembers me passages of the first album and at 2:50 there are a great interplay between guitars and keyboards. Other good tracks are 7. and 8., and 3. Shadows Self shows how can double drums bass be played creatively, something that a lot of power metal bands avoids, as they are used to play repetitive/boring drums, proper to a drums machine. Track 6 is a short instrumental showing the classical influence in Finn Zierler. Good acquisition to any prog metal fan. ***½ stars.