SEVENTH DIMENSION

I've never heard about SEVENTH DIMENSION until October 2018. Anyway, my interest has allowed me to appreciate the breadth of their latest album. The band consists of: Erik Bauer ( keyboard courtesy), Nico Lauritsen (lead vocals), Luca Delle Fave (b/v, guitars) Rikard Wallstr'm (bass), Marcus Thor'n (drums). They are skilful performers and the ensemble work is extremely decent. With 'The Corrupted Lullaby' being their third studio release, Swedish guys have set themselves a mammoth and ambitious undertaking which they pull off in great style. The monster 2-CD represents the pinnacle of the band's career, and has proven to be exciting. Lots of interesting twists and turns to keep you attentive.The songs are well produced, the sound is well balanced and never irritates. The vocals are polished and textured. The instrumental parts are gorgeous, creating expansive musical soundscapes. Time signatures change frequently, followed by quiet passages. In terms of the music, there're obvious references to such groups as Dream Theater, Queensryche, Shadow Gallery, Threshold, Royal Hunt, Kamelot, Vanden Plas etc. Despite all of that, Seventh DImension manage to keep the listener involved in the intriguing story. Yes, 125+ min. of material can be rather daunting prospect however 'The Corrupted Lullaby' is a digestible symphonic prog-metal album that improves with each successive play..

Two years after their debut album, Seventh Dimension released their sophomore release containing another batch of almost 80 minutes of new material. By that time I've already seen the band perform live on six different occasions and have heard some of these compositions. I also got to hear a few more of these songs when I attended the album's release party where they performed 7 out of 10 tracks plus a great cover of Dream Theater's Under a Glass Moon. So I was able to recollect some of the material when I heard Recognition for the first time (no pun intended).

The first overall impression that I had of the album, after my first few spins, was that it was a serious and dark release. The album cover didn't convey the same dreamlike imagery like the one on Circle Of Life, which was also a major factor to this impression. Unlike other dark progressive metal albums, like Dream Theater's Train of Thought or Pain of Salvaton's In The Passing Light Of Day, Seventh Dimension didn't go all-in on the heaviness of their sound. What we've got instead was a more mature and ambitious approach to progressive metal without sacrificing the softer side of their sound in the process.

Deception is a solid opener that pretty much summarizes everything you, as a listener, will experience withing the next 80 minutes. I'm talking about the impressive instrumental arrangements, crushing percussion sounds and melodic harmonies provided by Nico Lauritsen and Luca Delle Fave. The transition between the album opener and Hand of Fate is probably one of my favorite moments on the entire album and the track continues in the same great fashion, featuring one of the best melodic compositions of the entire release. The bridge section in Hand of Fate is another highlight, which I wish that Seventh Dimension would implement more often in their songwriting. If I have to be critical, then the only real gripe is that the band is using a fade out right at the end, which I feel halts the performance halfway through the closing guitar solo. I've been fortunate enough to hear Hand of Fate performed live without the fade out and it's a rejuvenating experience to say the least!

Third Eye and The Raven continue in the same direction, as the first two compositions, but this time I feel like these tracks are stretched out a bit too much for my liking and I would have preferably shorten each of them by a minute or two. Paradolia starts off as a scaled down ballad but morphs smoothly into another great moment for the entire band. Reading Between the Lines is another longer track that spans almost 12 minutes but I really like how this composition is structured and the chorus gives a great payoff once you get to the 4-minute mark and continue onward. I also love how the composition slows down halfway through and gives us another build up until we get to the end of the journey.

Metanoia is another great instrumental number that where I especially enjoy the interplay between the guitar och keyboards that almost sound like they are battling each other. Calm Before the Storm is pretty much what the title implies, a transcendent intro to the final 20 minute stretch of the album. Within Two Minds starts as another scaled down moment but the tempo switches round the 3 minute mark as we enter another epic moment on this album. This track is as close as we get to the power metal aspirations that we've heard on Beyond Time from the debut album, which is not close at all although Nico Lauritsen really has to stretch out his register for some of these vocal lines.

The final track is another of the 10+ minute compositions that takes a long time to build itself up. Seventh Dimension did actually play Descending Memories the first time I saw them back in 2011, so this was one of the tracks that the band had a chance to really work on up until this release. Unfortunately, I feel like most of it's time feels like a transition without an actual payoff. It also features one of the weakest choruses that the band had ever written. It's a real pity that Descending Memories doesn't deliver the epic conclusion to this otherwise another strong album from Seventh Dimension. Still it's a great album packed with many ambitious efforts. It also shows that the band are able to deliver great songwriting without the need to encapsulate it within the frame of a 30+ minute composition, which might become a gimmick if it's used too often.

I would probably not recommend Recognition as an introduction to Seventh Dimension as I consider their ambitious debut album or even their magnum opus of a third offering The Corrupted Lullaby as a better introduction of what this band is capable of. Still, this is definitely an excellent addition for all fans of progressive metal that's well worth your time.

***** star songs: Hand of Fate (5:21) Reading Between the Lines (11:26)

**** star songs: Deception (7:03) Third Eye (7:39) The Raven (10:45) Paradolia (5:40) Metanoia (7:45) Calm Before the Storm (1:52) Within Two Minds (8:39)

*** star songs: Descending Memories (13:24)

I first encountered Seventh Dimension when I saw them live back in 2011. This was the time when I went to see pretty much every concert that had the word prog attached to it and seeing the double bill of Forgotten Suns/Seventh Dimension at one of my all time favorite venues, Debaser Medis in Stockholm, felt like a perfect combination for me. Little did I know, this would turn into a long-term relationship that I hold dear today!

There was a lot of tension in the air when Seventh Dimension entered the stage and it was clear to me that the band was performing one of their, if not, first shows ever. I remember that the lead vocalist Nico was especially nervous when he was interacting with the audience. But I honestly didn't mind, in fact I found it to be very charming experience. Most of the tension was pretty much gone once the band started playing their second song of the evening titled Beyond Time. Hearing this very technical composition, that fused together influences of Symphony X and Dream Theater, made me realize that I was truly experiencing something incredible. The interplay between all the instrumentalists in the band was top notch and it was truly enjoyable to hear how they all added their own personal touch to the overall composition. I left that evening knowing that I needed more Seventh Dimension in my life. So it was really a no-brainer for me to order their debut album Circle Of Life once it was released a year and a half later.

The album is divided into 12 individual tracks where the first four are stand-alone compositions and the remaining eight comprise the 45 minute 8-part suite titled Circle Of Life. Listening to the album for the first time, I obviously recognized Beyond Time from my concert experience and the other three tracks before the suite were all very enjoyable as well. I especially like the instrumental Fall Of Stars and the 10 minute mini suite The Dreamer, which moves smoothly from one section to the next making those minutes feel much shorter than they actually are.

We've now come to the centerpiece of this release which also gives the album it's title. This is really an ambitious piece of music for such a young band, considering that most technical bands prefer to show their instrumental prowess in every given moment and thus don't have time to create such an intricate piece of music until much later in their career. Just the fact that the first part of the suite is called Prelude Of Life and that it serves as a prolonged intro to the piece of musical journey that we're about to embark on is enough to show that this is definitely not a sprint but a marathon! I definitely recommend experiencing Circle Of Life suite with the lyrics booklet because the composition is story-wise just as ambitious as it's instrumental arrangements.

I'm not gonna go into intricate details of the Circle Of Life suite. Let me just say that this is one of those rare epics that a band can probably only write once in their career. Examples of these once in a lifetime compositions would be Dream Theater's A Change of Seasons or The Odyssey by Symphony X, just to name two examples. This is why it's so amazing for me to experience a composition of such magnitude on Seventh Dimension's debut album. This only enhanced my feeling that this is a very special band that I should continue to keep an eye on for all their future endeavors.

I highly recommend Circle Of Life to all fans of progressive metal but also everyone who enjoys epic storytelling in album format. Listening to these compositions today, more than 5 years after the initial release, only makes the excellence of the music shine through even clearly to me.

***** star songs: Beyond Time (7:13) II. Alive At Sunrise (4:05) V. Under the Moonlight (5:51) VII. Realization (6:19) VIII. The End: A New Beginning (3:41)

**** star songs: Enter Mirror (8:41) Fall Of Stars (5:18) The Dreamer (9:39) I. Prelude Of Life (6:33) III. The Fatal Beginning (7:02) IV. The Shadow Man (4:34) VI. Circle Of Reflection (7:01)

I've taken a liking to this young band. They work hard. Two 75-minute albums in 3 years. I've read them described as "prog metal for the masses" on a Russian site, and thought well that's not fair. Derivative of the Dream Theater/Symphony X self-indulgent neoclassical/power/melodic/gothic metal mix, sure, but the songwriting is there (including a surprisingly coherent 45-minite suite already on their first album), and even fresh in its back to the classics, fanboy kind of sense.

What we have here on Recognition is more of the same, 8-10 minute songs, maybe a bit rougher in places, but pretty similar sound to Circle of Life. If you must choose, I'd pick the first one for its catchier melodies, but in reality both could satisfy your Dream Theater-wannabe hunger.

An impressive debut, but not without growing pains.

The band on their web page describe their influences as Dream Theater, Symphony X, Kamelot, Seventh Wonder and a few others (I would add Stratovarius to that). And this is pretty much what you get - an accessable mix of prog, melodic, symphonic and gothic metal. Without it coalescing into something original. But I attribute that to their early stage of development as a band. I have much hope because the mastermind - guitarist Luca dele Fave - is obviously a classically trained and talented composer. This is especially evident in the 45 minute epic. Even though it consists of 8 distinct parts, it feels cohesive (unlike many other similar epic attempts). Conceptually, it describes a persons life as he moves thru joy of birth, anger of youth (exacerbated by certain tragic events), self discovery and reflection. However, I do feel the concept is better realized thru music rather than singing (good, but not great) and lyrics, that are very amateurish - a problem, I guess, of many none-native English language bands.

Overall, a very worthy listen. Some snobs may scoff at its relative cliche -edness, and casual metal fans may find it boring, but if you just enjoy good anthemic prog music, I recommend.