Label: Independent Release Year: 2014 Country: USA Genre: Instrumental Progressive/Fusion Guitar Rock
Band Members
Gregory Bachman – All Guitars, Bass, Effects, Keyboards except where noted. Tooltrack– Drum Sounds
Guest Musicians
Marvin Craft – Bass Guitar on ‘Positive Flow’ James Lee Humes – Guitar Solo on ‘Light Of Luna’ From 3:30-4:20
William Malone – Sax Solo on ‘Positive Flow’
Greg Shumake – Piano on ‘Positive Flow’
When it comes to a instrumental musical composition some artists will have the assistance of a vocalist to try and convey the story they are trying to depict. They have to be more creative. They have step out of the conventional wisdom that is afforded when you have a vocalist in the band to paint the picture in the mind of the listener through song and lyric. Essentially the instruments have to have an effect or vibe that moves the listener towards a vivid imaginary listening experience.
Some current examples of this are Neal Schon, John Petrucci, Michael Romeo and Tony McAlpine. However another one has joined these same ranks. It is Colorado’s own Gregory JBachman. His 2014 offering Fly To The Land Of Z is fully of emotion, jams, shredding and out of the box creativity. Gregory J Bachman is beginning to create his own little niche in the Instrumental Progressive Rock And Jazz Fusion community. It is not ‘if’ Gregory will make it but a matter of when and when the right audience connects to his brilliant craftsmanship on the guitar. Let’s explore the project that is Fly To The Land Of Z.
Fly To The Land Of Z opens with a straight away shred session. This is combined with a nice open fuzz effect. About the 1:35 mark their is some spoken word effects as if NASA are communicating with astronauts. There is a space fusion progression like that throughout this track. About the 3:00mark he explodes into some serious finger scale work. About the 3:40 mark more spoken word progressions come from nowhere.
Positive Flow starts off with a heavy bass progressive fusion set. It sounds rather more on the jazzy side with a hint of funk. This is all combined with more craft work on guitar. About the :47 mark there is a nice keyboard passage followed by a Sax solo at the :50 mark. Around the 2:10 mark there is a tasteful spoken word countdown effect. The rest of this track has various fusion based time signatures. There is one hook right after another hook. The bass surely shows up towards the end.
Summer Rain opens with a nice flow from the keyboards followed by a thunderstorm effect that you can hear throughout the track. About the 1:15 mark Gregory takes it almost in a bluesy progression that stays fluid through the track. The bass in the track sounds more percussive and complimentary to the special storm effects embed inside track. This gives the listener of a storm like atmosphere. Summer Rain continues to progress by layers as the track moves forward.
Innocent Sorrow begins with a lush subtle keyboard atmospheric effect that is followed in the backdrop by a guitar solo. About the 1:00 mark a nice piano enters the mix along with guitar and bass. Innocent Sorrow conveys both emotion and movement in its make up and engineering. About the 2:50 mark there are some easy surround effects. The bass in the appears to be slapped, plucked ans strummed. This track reminds me of elements Joe Satriani employed on 1987’s Surfing With The Alien.
Land Of Z serves as a transition track to the next part of the album. With slight drum roll effects and lush keyboard sound, it is as if you entered Act 2 of a stage play or musical.
Magic Dream Dust opens with a very deep rich keyboard synth passage that is complimented with a side by side piano overdub. This track is as if the listener woke up in a dream. At the 1:40 mark a subtle less abrasive guitar harmony enters into the composition. The guitar sounds like both a modern blues and jazz metal fusion element. There is some really cool progressions after the 4:00mark before settling down again at the 4:40 mark.
Light Of Luna opens up like a classic AOR track in the vein of a Journey, Toto, Passenger or JimiJamison era Survivor. About the 1:00 mark the track often reminds me of Journey’s Send Her MyLove off 1983’s Frontiers album. About the 2:00 mark there are some heavy elements of NealSchon of Journey meets Jim Peterik of Survivor. At the 3:30 to 4:20 marks guest guitarist JamesLee Humes explodes with a solo. Then the track settles in and Gregory handles a long fluid solo through the rest of the track. The track has a nice piano outro.
Ancient Mystery starts off like the listener is traveling through space and time thus continuing the journey in the album structure itself. The thunderstorm effects are back briefly in this one. At the 1:20 mark track takes on many guitar and instrumental progressions and time signatures. AncientMystery has so many progressions the listener is transported in the mind in a altered state of continuity. The time signatures manipulate the listener in thinking the track is longer than its actual 8:51 structure. Gregory overdubs so eloquently on guitar it seems like there is two lead guitars and a offset rhythm guitar all in tandem with one another. Ancient Mystery starts to make the listener realize there is a grand concept on the album.
Tidal Force is another wonderfully produced transition track. This is a straight up jazzy funk fusion track that seems to transport the listener to another act of a musical or stage production. Tidal Force is well done as not to make the listener complacent.
Ocean Sunrise reminds me of elements of The Who on Quadrophenia where they opened and closed the album with wave effects of the ocean crashing on the shore. About the 1:50 mark the track takes a heavy rhythmic turn and starts to ascend in progression. At the 2:58 mark there is some great neo progressive elements that come into play especially on the keyboard. The neo progressive elements give the album another turn in the journey that is Fly To The Land Of Z. At the 4:00 mark you can get lost in the emotion and progression of the lead guitar elements. OceanSunrise overall is probably one of the heavier tracks on the album. About the 6:30 mark there is some nice scale work on the fret board.
Little Hero starts with a nice settled atmosphere as if the listener is about to arrive to their final destination in the theater of the mind. Little Hero sounds much like a welcome home anthem. The listener has time to digest the album and the journey thus far in the melodic story. There is a sense of fullfilment and reflection. The track takes a series of jams at the 3:00 mark.
Yellow Rocket Boots starts off with the sounds of children playing in a playground. This is soon followed with a heavy progression of all the sum of the instrumental parts coming together. About the 1:00 mark it takes many twists and turns like a roller coaster of progressive riffs. It is constantly changing in and out of various hooks and keys. It is as if the listener has arrived to a harmonic feast of progressive absolution.
Although this did not have a narrative in it lyrically, Fly To The Land Of Z still manages to take the listener on a melodic journey. This album is structured for the more instrumental minded progressive or fusion listener. This also succeeds in allowing the listener their own journey in the theater of the mind. This album is not for everyone. It is for the discretion of a specific niche audience. I give this a 4/5.
Just when I thought everything that can be done with progressive rock and metal concept albums, comes along a band that challenges contemporary wisdom. Abstrakt are one of those bands that come along and totally shatter pre conceived notions on how a concept album should be made in the world of progressive metal and rock.
Their 2015 album Limbosis is definitely a 74 minute journey as one wakes up one morning into a nightmare. The 8 tracks are different yet concurrent stories where the individual in the story makes sense of it all. The listener can easily find themselves in a situation such as this. Limbosis has a little bit of everything you would expect from a concept album yet completely against the grain of traditional progressive rock and metal. It is as if Riverside, The Sisters Of Mercy and Tool created a modern day melodic Frankenstein.
Teratoma begins with a nice melody of keyboards backed with a nice rhythm section with a drum roll style of beat. Soon a very deep barotoned style vocal comes in that reminds me a lot of PeterSteele of Type O Negative meets Maynard James Keenan of TOOL. This vocal dynamic is followed by some great post rock progression with bottom heavy bass and detuned rhythm guitar. Krzysztof Podsiadło’s vocals are very different from most progressive vocalists today. At he 4:50mark there is some strange special effects like somebody is working in a garage preparing something with a very dark atmospheric keyboard passage. Throughout the rest of track there are deeper heavier progressions with the rhythm section with a neo progressive keyboard passage. There is a segway pause that allows the album to flow and transition smoothly to the following track The Bus.
The Bus picks up where Teratoma left off with a neo progressive keyboard opening that is perfectly complimented by a smooth rhythm section. This followed by a nice rhythm guitar section that displays a deep bottom progression. There are some nice breaks around 2:50 to 4:00 marks. Michał Fiałka has some wicked guitar parts both rhythm and lead. At the 5:40 mark there is a very odd punk sensibility much in the vein of early Black Flag. At the 6:42 mark there are more hooks that keep the listener locked in. Nice ebb and flow between bass and rhythm guitars and drums for those who love detuned progressions.
Clockhouse opens up almost like a chamber music style progression. Once again the bottom rhythm is very heavily brooding and groove laden. Some polished keyboard passasges are sprinkled. The vocal about the 1:29 mark goes in a ghostly wicked whisper. Jakub Puszyński appears to be strumming the bass instead of plucking it. About 2:59 mark the band employs and incorporates a children’s choir that serves as a more haunted style of background. Towards the 4:00 mark there are even some subtle spoken word sections. Maciej Dados seems to envelop the listener with a linger surround style of keyboard passage.
Wolf starts out with such a heavy handed brooding rhythm section that appears to be stalking the listeners senses. Łukasz Simiński has a heavy drumming section that sounds like it is trying to portray fear into the main character of the concept story. The rhythm section in Wolf reminds me a lot of Univers Zero’s dark passages . About the 3:00 mark the band takes this to a whole new level with a simple yet perplexed 4/4 progression followed by a sick haunting hammond organ style keyboard passage. About the 6:00 mark Wolf takes a heavy progressive metal progression and return to the same progression as they hit at the 3:00 mark. There is a very fluid piano running with the doom laden progression between 7:00 mark to the end of the track.
Bloody Mary starts out with a heavy fuzzy distortion rhythm section with a neo progressive keyboard effect in harmony. about the 1:17 mark the track takes a blistering approach before breaking at the 1:39 mark. The bands concept really begins to tighten up on this track and the listener can clearly see that Abstrakt have done something pivotal here with Limbosis. The vocals carry some of the old odd metal metal signatures that Chris Cornnell did with Soundgarden which is very distinctive from their peers in the prog community. The heavy post rock vine certainly taps into that left indie side that TOOL opened up 20+ years earlier. From the 6:00 mark towards the end Bloody Mary takes on some familiar doom metal elements that bands like Pentagram or Candlemass are known for. Just with a neo progressive post rock twist.
Liars Symphony once again solidifies the bands purposeful dark nature of Limbosis. Liars Symphony is laced with neo progressive atmospheres combined perfectly to the post rock doom references that Abstrakt seem to be making a point of in the concept itself. There is a very articulate spoken word passage in the middle like a storyteller. About the 5:38 mark the whole track take a more Deep Purple vibe with the hammond organ combined with the hard post rock notations.
Greatnot has a Floydian opening much like Dogs Of War where it sounds like a working mans track. Soon after it explodes into a doom like sludge progressive progression. The bass is very fuzzy giving this a darker and dreary effect. The drums are non stop give the track a fluid rhythmic continumn. The band seem to be channeling krautrock style passages and the keyboards in this at times sound a lot like Krafwerk.
Journey the final track on the concept, opens up with Abstrakt’s signature progression. At this point Abstrakt have certainly carved a unique and distinctive sound all their own. The band take this track in another unexpected turn and tap into psychedelic signatures with the rhythm section. At about the 4:30 mark there is even a slight but subtle Radiohead vibe in the vocal. At the 6:40 mark the band adds yet another hook in this concept and presents a post rock/ djent metal vibe. This is in a endless line of hooks, progressions and effects already present within the concept itself.
From the time the Prog Doctor, Marty Dorfman over at House Of Prog Radio played a track off of Abstrakt’s Limbosis, I knew somewhere and sometime I would be reviewing it. Limbosis is a front runner in the evolution of the next generation of progressive concept albums. Abstrakt have definitely re wrote, recorded and engineered how I view progressive concept albums. If this is any indication of the future of Polish Prog or Prog Rock in general the genre will continue. I give this a 4.75/5 .
When people talk about extreme progressive metal bands that come to mind are Dillinger EscapePlan and Between The Buried And Me from the USA. Then there are bands like Gojira from France, Alkaloid from Germany. However Poland have produced a fine extreme progressive metal band in KORE. Ever since Riverside opened the flood gates for Polish prog over 15+ years ago it seems prog’s tentacles has also reached into the extreme metal scene in Poland. KORE now follow in the footsteps of their Polish peers such as Riverside, Logic Mess and Abstrakt to name a few. KORE have now proven that Poland has become a prog stronghold with their 2015 release Evolve. They combine metalcore, death metal, djent sounding a lot like Tool, Pantera, Opeth and early DEATH yet with a hard modern progressive twist.
Monolith opens up with a eerie keyboard atmospheric effect that is brooding and fuzzy at times. Soon the rhythm section with guitar and bass come with a distorted rhythm passage followed by the dark vocal style of Karol Piwowarski first singing in a clean somber like dialect before exploding into a part metalcore part death metal grunt. This is backed by a powerful blast beat rhythm section done perfectly by Łukasz Usydus – Bass and Kuba Mikulski – Drums. There are some math metal elements that have recently been received in the pantheon of progressive rock and metal. About the 4:50 mark there is some very tight post rock chants. This is soon followed up with a heavily detuned distorted progressive passages that seem regressive from time to time. Towards the end there are some great in and out harmonies and echoes vocally.
Pulsar starts a a furious blast beat drum with a more percussive bass section. This is soon followed by a blackened thrash metal passage instrumentally while maintaining a monster grunt and growls that often remind me of Opeth’s Host Of Perdition off of 2005’s Ghost Reveries. Pulsar is a track that hammers the listener from start to finish. About the 3:00 mark there is some killer guitar solo work that taps the vein of thrash to death metal progressions. About the 4:00 mark the track takes on a whole other detuned progression.
Burning Idols opens up with what appears to be a keyboard based effect however on the contrary it is done by the guitar. For a brief period the band uses the guitar much like Tom Morello would during the Rage Against The Machine era. This storm surge is followed by the wind howls of growls and grunts playing off the rhythm section. Once again Karol Piwowarski wonderfully executes both clean vocals and death metalcore vocals. In the 3:00 mark there is a nice accent of spoken word combined and followed by progressive growls and screams. At the 3:50 mark the band has a more traditional rock metal guitar solo.
Monochrome opens with a killer distorted guitar with a sick heavy chord bend progression. Monochrome is definitely a track for those that like TOOL with the thrash work of Pantera with a little Devin Townsend mixed in. At the 2:38 mark we witness again some wonderful spoken word passages before once again exploding into a grunt growl vocal. Monochrome even dabbles a bit into alternative metal vocally.
Song Of Hibb starts out with a quiet subtle acoustical ambiance with soulful warm clean vocals. Then the track starts to take a straight away rock approach. Song Of Hibb at times has a modern metal mainstream sensibility about. Not only are the vocals warm and inviting the instrumental sections are more mellow with eerie dark lead guitar progression. Soon the guitar solo work goes into more of a shred form for the first time on the album.
No-Face Portrait explodes with some really heavy fast double bass drum blast beats running side by side with some powerful clean vocals. Soon the track takes on a straight away rock track. There is a gracefully blistering rhythm guitar based solo within this track as well. The vocal work later in the track goes into death metal style grunts echoed through the filter of black metal screams and post rock clean vocals.
The Covenant starts like a old school blackened thrash track and soon is followed with a wall of growls and grunts. The band takes a break and goes into a very alternative post rock passage with modern vocals. There is also a killer guitar string section with a vocal whisper side by side. The vocal passages remind me a lot of Rush where there is a lot to say lyrically through the death metal filter of Opeth and even earlier Jonas Renske of Katatonia. There are some very nice backing vocals that are more present within the track adding more layers. Although extreme the band has a uncanny ability to do old school solo’s on guitar which is a rare element within extreme progressive metal that is more focused on the percussive qualities. The guitar work at the 7:05 mark is a more tradition blackened metal sound. At about the 8:30 mark the band tastefully winds the album to a close with a calming acoustic guitar passage.
If KORE continue to make music like they have here on Evolve, I fully believe they will be richly rewarded. If great music like this continues from KORE than the 2010’s will have written yet another chapter in the long history of metal. I give this a 4/5 for effort and continuing to establish Poland as a new Prog Stronghold.
When you talk about stronghold regions for progressive rock certain countries come to mind. You have the United Kingdom, the birthplace of progressive rock, Germany with the minimalist style of Krautrock and even the more hard rock based progressive rock from North America. However over the last 15 years Poland has set itself up quite well as a modern strong hold for progressive rock. The band that has held the banner and standard in this leading the way has been Riverside.
With seven studio albums and two live releases, Riverside have positioned themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the progressive rock and metal communities. This has strengthen the bands resolve especially with its newest offering Love, Fear And The Time Machine courtesy Inside Out Music in 2015. In this review I will be covering the limited edition 2 CD release. CD 1 being the actual Love, Fear And The Time Machine album and CD 2 being a total offering of strictly instrumentals.
CD 1
Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened By A Hat ?) opens up with a ambient atmospheric vibe combining a ambient progressive instrumental with ambient style vocals. There are some minimalist elements with thick rhythms before the keyboard kicks in like neo prog and guitars take off with a heavy dark progression. The vocals are very dark yet illuminating. Mariusz Duda gets partially Floydian in his vocal.
Under The Pillow begins with a great semi electric guitar passage before Duda’a vocals kick in. Once again the band are playing with various layers and atmospheres. Once again they invite neo progressive keyboard passages with deep rhythm layers. Piotr Kozieradzki – drums and Mariusz Duda sound tighter than they ever have with the rhythm progressions. Piotr Grudziński – guitars, adds a beautiful layer with a guitar solo in the middle. The track contains a nice break that incorporates a nice bass solo.
#Addicted comes in with some heavy bass work followed by great rhythm guitar and deep drums. The drum work is less percussive and more instrumental. About the 1:28 mark there is some good backing vocal work. #Addicted is one of the heavier rhythmic tracks on the album with great atmospheric effects on the keyboard. Lyrically the song talks about the end result to addiction. Closing this track is a great guitar passage as a accent.
Caterpillar And The Barbed Wire starts with a seriously deep rhythm section passage. The deep heavy rhythms are likened to Yes’ Roundabout. The heavy rhythm section definitely carries the entire track. There are some great snare and cymbal combinations performed wonderfully by PiotrKozieradzki. The guitar solo is subtle and creeps in adding more additional layers. You can clearly hear the growth and maturity of the band in Caterpillar And The Barbed Wire.
Saturate Me opens with a odd rhythm progression. This is followed by a series of dark and twisted time signatures going in and out trading off between the rhythm section and stringed section. About the 2:00 mark there are some lush vocals with good echoes for effects. It is as if the vocals are in a vacum somewhere bouncing off a very acoustic friendly warehouse. The keyboard has a ebb and flow of modern keyboard and hammond organ style from porg’s past. The ebb and flow of the keyboard will appeal to both the old school prog purist and modern just introduced to prog rock fan.
Afloat has a profound melancholic opening intro. The acoustic guitar gives it both a stringed and deep rhythm quality about it. Afloat has heavy krautrock minimalist elements while managing to satisfy the prog listener with old school elements in the vein of Camel and Caravan.
Discard Your Fear has a killer hammond/mellotron intro with it like in the vein of the legendary JonLord. Soon this is followed by some very intricate time signatures with fluid vocals. At the 3:23 mark there is some nice rhythm breaks with isolated vocal tracking for accent and flavour. Towards the end there some nice drum fills.
Towards The Blue Horizon opens up with some great finger fret work on the acoustic guitar that reminds me a lot of Kansas’ Dust In The Wind. Another highlight to come from this track is the very detailed snare, cymbal, tom tom work by Piotr Kozieradzki giving this one a very unique sound. The bass also has a very unique sound as if the strings are strummed instead of plucked. Michał Łapaj – Keyboards, really laces old school hammond organ flare in many areas as effects. The vocal melodies are very warm and inviting on the listener as well.
Time Travellers seems like the band have intentionally wanted to open tracks on this album with acoustic vibes and working the listener into the track gently. Time Travellers contains a very heavy folk background both instrumentally and lyrically. On the lyrical end of the spectrum it is a track of looking back and reflection on life. Time Travellers can serve as a great single for the band off the album and is probably the most commercial sounding track Riverside wrote for this album.
Found (The Unexpected Flaw Of Searching) starts with some great finger fret work compounded quite nicely with vocals that are both vocal and instrumental in nature. Once again the band really allows the guitar solo work to stand out. A lot of this track reminds me of 2004’s Pain Of Salvation’s12:5 which in fact was a total acoustical live set. Found (The Unexpected Flaw OfSearching) has a vibe as if the band did it together live in the studio instead a piece tracking and engineering it on the back end.
CD 2
Heavenland definitely has a minimalist intro with minimal keyboards and chants. Michał Łapaj –Keyboards really has a heavy atmospheric presence. Heavenland is a track where one can float off and lose themselves in melodic immersion of the senses. The guitar serves like more of a chime effect on this one.
Return has a intro much like a church service that completely has a mood all its own. At the 1:00mark it appears to be a detuned bass and guitar serving as special effects as the keyboard and slight drum cymbals and beats carry this one. This a heavily ambient based track. Return is a track that the psychedelic listener can identify with as well.
Aether is another ambient offering. It reminds me of early Floyd. Mariusz Duda starts to really establish himself among the best of his peers like John Myung – Dream Theater, Nick Beggs –Steven Wilson, IONA, Lonely Robot, or even Mike LePond – SymphonyX. Aether sees some big bass drum work wonderfully crafted by Piotr Kozieradzki . Riverside fit more notes, effects and passages in the 8:44 time frame than some prog bands do with a 15-20 epic time frame. Aether is certainly a atmospheric jam.
Machines opens up with with heavy krautrock like keyboard atmospheres. The keyboard passages remind me a lot of early Kraftwerk. In Machines the band have manage to manipulate the drum to sound like a electronic drum.
Promise ends the epic limited edition with a great guitar intro. Promise is much like Aether and Machines before it. Riverside have a high experimental quality.
Riverside’s Love, Fear And The Time Machine is a true ambient progressive rock journey full of spirit and emotion. It contains a lot of old school progressive rock elements with a lot of modern sensibility about it. Although not as heavy as their previous works, Love, Fear And The Time Machine still adheres to the darker atmospheres Riverside have come to be known for. I give this a 4/5.
RIVERSIDE – Found (The Unexpected Flaw of Searching) (OFFICIAL VIDEO). Taken from the album “Love, Fear and the Time Machine”. Inside Out Music 2015.
*Writers Note* This review is dedicated to the memory of late Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr- (March/8th/1957-March/12th/2013) & Robin Williams – (July/21/1951-August/11/2014)
Label: Parlaphone/Sanctuary BMG Release Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom Genre: NWOBHM/Heavy Melodic Metal
Band Members
Bruce Dikinson – Vocals/ Piano
Steve Harris – Bass
Dave Murray – Rhythm / Lead Guitars
Adrian Smith – Rhythm/ Lead Guitars
Janick Gers – Rhythm/ Lead Guitars
Nicko McBrian – Drums/Percussion
2015 marks the 40th Anniversary of one of the most influential, prolific, and global heavy metal bands of all-time Iron Maiden. With very little radio and MTV video type airplay, Iron Maiden’s grassroots efforts have led the band from going to selling out arena’s of 20,000 people to major open air festivals in Rio De Janeiro Brazil where they played to almost 250,000 people. In my 38 years in metal success has never been measured by how many hits on Billboard top 200 you have nor how many platinum albums one band can sale. It is measured more on a supply and demand basis.
Iron Maiden have certainly made very quality music on the supply side of the business and have been rewarded richly on the demand half of the business. I can not ever remember going to a heavy metal, progressive rock or any other genre in heavy metal and hard rock where I did not see quite a few in Iron Maiden t shirts or a patch sewn to a vest of some kind. No matter how segregated the heavy metal genre in its 30 sub-genres, Iron Maiden have been the most consistent act that both the fans and their peers in the music industry have come to agree upon. They have been the glue to hold it all together over 40 years, even more than your Sabbath’s, Zeppelin’s, Purple’s Priests and they contemporaries from the New Wave Of BritishHeavy Metal.
Now in 2015 more than 40 years after their creation they continue to solidly their position as the band we all can agree upon and their newest album The Book Of Souls is certainly no exception to this rule. The Book Of Souls is Iron Maiden’s first ever double conceptual album and their first concept album since 1988’s Seventh Son of A Seventh Son. The Book Of Souls also demonstrates that Iron Maiden are as tight as ever never having any writing or recording rust whatsoever. The Book Of Souls also taps heavily into Iron Maiden’s progressive rock influences like Yes, Genesis, KingCrimson, ELP, etc… Especially with the 18+ minute epic Empire of the Clouds replacing their current record holder 1984’s 13+ minute epic , Rime of the Ancient Mariner off 1984’s Powerslave. Let’s now explore The Book Of Souls.
If Eternity Should Fail a rare killer intro with a keyboard creating an atmosphere much in the vein of early Rainbow and Tony Carey especially Stargazer. Then Bruce Dickinson’s voice perfectly compliments it with a echo effect perfectly executed by producer Kevin Shirley. Thereafter the track takes the traditional Iron Maiden galloping signature led by the very distinctive signature bass work of Steve Harris combined with the drums of Nicko McBrian. The tracks ends with a very unusual spoken word passage.
Speed Of Light fires up in the traditional Maiden/NWOBHM fashion. With killer guitar work between Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers, in tandem with the signature rhythm style between Harris and McBrain and Dickinson’s traditional soaring vocals Speed Of Light suffices the audio pallet of for the long time listener and introducing a new generation to the traditional Iron Maiden sound.
The Great Unknown begins rather eerie with a heavy bottom rhythm section that reminds me of earlier Maiden tracks like The Number Of The Beast, Powerslave in the like. At the 1:37 mark it kicks in with Bruce’s soaring vocals and a traditional Iron Maiden signature. Adrian Smith has some great solo work within the track.
The Red And The Black opens up with a deep heavy acoustic bass that has not been heard on recent Maiden works. The Red And The Black has elements of Rime Of The Ancient Mariner combined with Alexander The Great from Somewhere In Time. The background vocals make this one anthem in nature with a more chant like vibe employed as a instrument. The Red And The Black also contains a very heavy keyboard atmosphere that is noticeable yet subtle at the same time. This is a one of the many tracks heavily bathed in progressive rock elements incorporating certain passages that Rush and King Crimson used in the 1970’s but with a modern sensibility.
When The River Runs Deep has a blistering guitar intro. It soon has a break and goes into a heavy rhythmic section. The backing vocal adds a nice accent to the main vocal. This track is a very traditional NWOBHM with up tempo passages. It is a little on the thrash metal side in scope. There are definitely various guitar solos being trading off and on going in and out complimenting the composition perfectly.
The Book Of Souls the title track of the album begins with a sweet acoustical guitar passage with keyboards. Then the track takes a heavy rhythm turn before the keyboard once again kicks in and creates a sort of backbone for Bruce’s soaring vocals. The track has a very blistering galloping middle with some wonderful guitar solo’s
Death Or Glory carries rhythmic elements like Where Eagles Dare from 1983’s Piece Of Mind in the intro. The standard Iron Maiden signature is in full effect here in all its integrity the long time fans have come to expect. The solo’s remind me a lot of The Evil That Men Do from Seventh Son OfA Seventh Son.
Shadows Of The Valley definitely opens up as if it were a sequel to Wasted Years from Somewhere In Time. You can tell Adrian Smith is very present in the intro. After the intro the track takes a turn with elements in the vein of Fear Of The Dark album. This track has some powerful backing vocal chants as well.
Tears Of A Clown was written and inspired by the life and last days of late comedian and actor Robin Williams. Lyrically it contains elements of a person feeling isolated and lonely feeling hopeless. These emotions ultimately result into the unthinkable suicide that frankly nobody expected.
The Man Of Sorrows begins with a semi electric guitar passage almost like a solo. The guitar lays back and the vocal comes to the forefront. It has a vibe that the band may of recorded this live old school in the studio. The composition takes a progressive turn into a modern fresh yet traditional Maiden sound. The vocals and solo’s once again soar in typical Iron Maiden fashion without the appearance of sounding dated.
Empire Of The Clouds opens up with something new in the Iron Maiden arsenal that of BruceDickinson’s piano work. Frankly I would of never expected a straight up piano passage in a IronMaiden song. This is a testament of the band’s growth and maturity in song writing over the oast 40 years. Between the piano and guitar the band managed to in fact bring a orchestral element to Empire Of The Clouds. Nicko McBrian has some very nice orchestral drum vibes that serve a more subtle melodic instrument than a percussive beat. This is also a new element for the band. The song structure in of itself leaves the listener with anticipation of how it might sound in a live version.
Empire Of The Clouds is heavily steeped in progressive elements that are a reminder of early Yes compositions like Close to The Edge or Genesis’ Suppers Ready. At the 8:35 mark the track settles in and takes the more traditional Iron Maiden approach yet with some heavy progressive solo’s that take the listener on a journey of musical significance. At the 10:00 mark it has another hook with a guitar solo that is followed up by a nice rhythmic balance. About the 11:00 mark it has a beautiful keyboard synth underbelly before going into another powerful guitar solo at the 12:05 mark. Bruce sounds just as good or better than he ever has. At the 13:00 mark it trades off from a 5/8 signature to a 4/4 running side by side of one another. The 14:00 mark highlights the wonderful piano work of Bruce Dickinson. Empire Of The Clouds has very lush and beautiful instrumental harmonies laced and laid perfectly throughout its 18+ minutes.
Iron Maiden certainly surprised me in more ways than one with The Book Of Souls. This is by far the most ambitious project they have ever taken on. It is also the most progressive in nature and the first ever studio double album in Iron Maiden’s 40 year history. The Book Of Souls is also the bands most mature album as well. Although rumors are spreading this could be the bands last album, I find that hard to believe due to the tightness and detail to The Book Of Souls. This gets a rating of 5/5 and in ‘heavy metal’ circles could be Album Of The Year of 2015.
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