REDEMPTION

To quote the song 'Sapphire' from Redemption's 2005 release 'The Fullness of Time', "I'm damned to know exactly just what might have been."

This album is excellent in many facets and is certainly a respectable debut, but without a doubt the greatest weakness is the vocals. They come across as weak and uninspired and are very low in the mix, I suspect to further mask their inadequacy compared to the rest of the virtuosity on the record. It's certainly not to hide any lyrical shortcomings, as the songwriting is excellent. The first 4 tracks are based on a Stephen King novel, and the last track is a 24 minute epic that accurately re-tells Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. Each piece contains musical passages that perfectly capture the emotion of the lyrics.

It is only with the release of 2005's 'The Fullness of Time' that we see what this band is truly capable of. Ray Alder's vocals bring the music to life with richness and emotion that is so sorely lacking in their debut effort. I would pay a great deal more than the price of a typical CD to hear this album completely remastered with Ray Alder on vocals. I'm giving this a 3 of 5 stars, but with Alder doing all the voice work I think it would approach a 5.

This is still a very good prog metal album, and a worthwhile listen for any fan of the genre. It's an absolute must for those who enjoy 'The Fullness of Time'. You, too, will long for 'what might have been'.

The first incarnation of REDEMPTION features Rick Mythiasin on vocals, Jason Rullo (SYMPHONY X) on drums, Bernie Vesailles (FATES WARNING) on lead guitar and the leader of the band Nick Van Dyk on various instruments including keys and bass. There are guest appearances from Michael Romeo (SYMPHONY X) on orchestration, Mark Zonder (FATES WARNING) on drums and Ray Adler (FATES WARNING) doing vocals on one song, and backing vocals as well. So as you might imagine the musicianship is of the highest quality but the production and or mixing of this record leaves one wondering why they didn't bring someone in from outside to do the job. This album just doesn't sound right at times, especially the vocals which are mixed lower then the rest of the band.

The first 4 songs are all part of the "Desperation" suite.This is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. It opens with about a minute and a half of orchestration courtesy of Michael Romeo before the heavy riffs and drums come in. Ray sings the second part of this suite (he is now their full time vocalist) as synths and keys are added. Some great scorching guitar as well from Bernie. "Nocturnal" is a guitar driven track full of riffs and solos. Nice.

"Window To Space" is my favourite song on this record. So many tempo and mood shifts, this song has it all. "As I Lay Dying" features Zonder on drums and his presence is felt throughout. The vocals are better here and the guitars are excellent. "Something Wicked Comes This Way" is based on the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury. It's a hard and heavy 24 minute song with some outstanding instrumental work.

I almost feel cheated with this release especially when the follow up "The Fullness Of Time" sounds so amazing. This is still a good release though despite the sound quality.

"Redemption" is the debut full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Redemption. The album was released in March 2003 by Sensory Records.

Redemption is the brainchild of guitarist/ bassist/ keyboardist Nicolas Van Dyk. There are quite a few prolific progressive metal musicians playing on the album though and I´m tempted to call this an all-star cast. Rick Mythiasin (Pantera, New Eden, Taraxacum, Steel Prophet) is the lead vocalist, Jason Rullo (Symphony X) plays the drums and Bernie Versailles (Agent Steel, Engine, Fates Warning) plays lead guitars. In addition to that we have Ray Alder (Fates Warning, Engine) guesting on lead vocals on song 2 "Desperation Part II", Mark Zonder (Fates Warning, Slaviour) guesting on drums on song 7 "As I Lay Dying" and Michael Romeo (Symphony X) who contributes with orchestration on song 1 "Desperation Part I" and song 4 "Desperation Part IV".

The music on the album is progressive metal. Heavy riffs, keyboards and high pitched vocals. High quality compositions and musicianship but really nothing unusual for the genre. There are 8 tracks on the album. The first 4 tracks "Desperation I-IV" make up a lyrical concept and they seque into each other. The last song is a 24:00 minute long track so the music is pretty challenging. While the music and the musicianship is of high quality the production really drags the album down. The sound is thin and lacks bass. The only time I hear the bass is in the song "Window To Space" where it has a kind of lead part. On the rest of the album the bass is not audible at all. There´s also something wrong with how the keyboards are placed in the mix. Sometimes they´re not very audible. I can hear that they are there but I can´t hear what they are playing. A really bad production this one.

Now when I see all the names mentioned above I expect something extraordinaire but I think this is a pretty "run of the mill" progressive metal album. No surprises and a bad production really don´t do anything positive for the album. There´s nothing wrong with the musicianship or the compositions as such, The compositions could however have been written by almost any progressive metal act. I think Redemption seriously lack an original sound on this album. When those complaints have been voiced "Redemption" is still a pretty good progressive metal album and a 3 star rating is deserved.

This is the debut self-titled album of the American progressive metal act, Redemption.

Redemption was formed in the early 2000's by guitarist and various instrumentalist Nick Van Dyke. Rick Mythiasin is the vocalist on this record (who sadly left sometime before the band's second album, "The Fullness of Time", was recorded), Bernie Versiallies (deepest apologies if I spelled that wrong) on lead guitar, and Jason Rullo on drums (who also left the band sometime after, unfortunately).

This is a great debut to start off Redemption's career. The music is raw and powerful, with little signs of weakness. Specifically the keyboards on this record shine unlike on any other Redemption record, though at very little times they can be out of place.

The first song is a 4-track suite, entitled "Desperation", based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. The first part is the heaviest and my personal favorite, with soaring guitar melodies and good drumming to back them up, as well as a lovely orchestral intro. When the vocals kick in, however, you realise the production isn't that great. The vocals are lovely and melodic, and one of the best parts of the album, but the subpar production does not do them justice. Part 2 greets us with a somewhat cheesy ballad, but it is still good nonetheless and has it's moments of strength. Part 3 starts off with a bang and some really outstanding keyboard work. It's probably the fastest song in the suite, if not the whole album, and the second heaviest in the suite. The vocals can get very agressive at times. The chorus is very beautiful and majestic, with lyrics concering a battle between God and Satan to claim the souls once and for all. Part 4 starts off almost as fast as Part 3, if not as fast. It has some great vocal melodies and very nice lyrics to boot, as well as more agressive vocals. It ends with a similar orchestral passage like that in the beginning of Part 1, this time backed up by the full band, ending the suite.

After that journey, we are introduced to our first separate track, "Nocturnal". This song is without a doubt the heaviest on the album, with heavy riffs and great keyboard melodies, as well as a soaring chorus. This is sure to please any fans of the heavier side of prog, such as I. It's just too bad it's so short.

The next track, "Window To Space", is the first out of two single-track epics on the album. Window to Space is the shorter of the two, being 13 minutes and 26 seconds long. The song starts with a somewhat creepy guitar riff accompanied by haunting chanting, and some very nice, soft progressive movements halfway through the first minute, followed by vocals with Rick Mythiasin at his best. The softness doesn't last long, however - 2 and-a half-minutes in we get some prog metal heaviness and more agressive vocals, though not as agressive as some in the previous tracks. The lyrics give off a very nice and hopeful feel to them, and overall this is a good half-ballad. Their is a somewhat odd guitar solo at 11 minutes, and the hopeful lyrics shine again. The song ends with the same acoustic riff as it started with.

The next track, "As I Lay Dying", starts off with a good building up with some nice keyboard melodies. The lyrics appear to be about an Atheist who excepts God within the last few minutes of his life. The best part comes in at 2 minutes with a nice chorus, "Will it all go on after I am gone?" The song ends shortly after. There's not that much to say about it because it isn't a very eventful song, but it's still a great song nonetheless. This song acts as a great opener to the closing song...

"Something Wicked This Way Comes" is, without a doubt, the highlight of the album. It's based on the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury (which I reccommend anyone to read as I am currently readin it), and by the first 15 seconds of the song, what with it's haunting melodies and creeping vocals, you can tell this will be a ride. It is a whopping 24 and-a-half-minutes long, longer than any Redemption song to date. The first heavy riff comes half-a-minute in, and loops a few times before going into the full beginning of the song. The first 4 minutes or so of the song aren't that melodically powerful, but afterwards there is lots and lots of strength and melody behind every word Mythiasin puts into his voice as well as the music. At 15 minutes we get an awesome Iron Maiden-like galloping riff and some interesting vocals at half. We get some beautiful vocal melodies at 18 to 20 minutes, and finally leads up to the climax at 21 minutes with some of the most hauntingly melodic vocals in Redemption's entire career. After another 2 minutes we get the final stanza of lyrics, and the song ends quite happily.

It might come off as a surprise to some Redemption fans when I say that this is, I think, their best album. The vocals and instrumentations are beautiful, exotic melodies, and haunting vocals with surprisingly good lyrics. Mythiasin is better than Alder in my eyes and adds more atmosphere to Redemption's work. A quintessential record - highly reccommended to fans of progressive metal.