FOR THE LOVE OF ART AND THE MAKING

I'll begin my review of BEYOND TWILIGHT's "For The Love Of Art And The Making" by saying I simply can not give this album anything less than 5 stars. I'm a huge fan/collector of prog metal, a practicing musician too. Ever since my ears heard the first few seconds of this album, I've been mystified by it ever since. I listen to a lot of music and it's intersting to me how prominent this album stands out among the crowd.

Simply put, this is the most creative album I think I've ever heard. Not only is it ridiculously creative and masterfully crafted, it's very heavy at moments. The musicianship is incredible and they use that mastery to take you on a whirling ride. From raging metal to a fairy tale symphony and everywhere in between.

The compositions sometimes are very strange and dissonate, such as the piano and guitar trill unison parts. This isn't mindless shredding though! Their themes reappear all through the album. The long trilling effect especially gets stuck in my head because it's something you usually do not hear in music today, but somehow BEYOND TWILIGHT pulls it off perfectly.

I can see how some may not enjoy the vocals on the album. But in my opinion, I don't see any other style of vocal working with this kind of music. The vocals are powerful but I wouldn't consider them screaming. I tend to enjoy vocals that are very soulfull and powerful such as Tom Englund from Evergrey, but I am impressed with Björn Jansson's performance on For The Love Of Art And The Making. He's capable of reaching very high notes as well as laying back and laying some soulful textures to the overall theme.

I could go on and on about how much I've enjoyed this album but I will leave you with this... The first time I heard this album, I thought I was listening to one of the best prog metal albums I've ever heard. Since then and after many, many more listens. I haven't changed my mind. In my humble opinion, this album is a treasure to behold. A must have for any prog metal fan.