My first introduction to Amadeus Awad was 2014’s EON – The Book Of Shadows. I walked away so blown away by what I heard I thought this was his opus. Well, sometimes what we think and actual reality are two different things. I believe 2015’s Death Is Just A Feeling could be his Magnus Opus. Whereas EON- The Book Of Shadows was more progressive metal in its nature, 2015’s Death Is JustA Feeling carries some of the most progressively diverse character and instrumental content I have heard since 2004’s, Pain Of Salvation’s – Be or 2000’s Ayreon’sThe Universal Migrator Part 1 : where the Dream Sequencer was more the progressive rock side and Part 2: Flight Of The Migrator was the heavier progressive metal half. On Amadeus Awad’s – Death Is Just A Feeling you get a lot of both worlds.
The album’s diversity is also properly supported by a very diverse support cast this time around. You have Ayreon himself Arjen Lucassen on vocals, Annke Van Geirsbergen vocals and Eli Monasef on vocals. This one also carries 2 world class drummers in Marco Minneman and James Keegan. With a cast like this Amadeus Awad has allowed himself a lot of creative freedom in Death Is JustA Feeling. This concept is about suicide addiction and what life is like in the one perperson’srld who suffers from drug addiction with suicidal thoughts.This will resonate with the one who listens to it and think of themselves in the same situation.
Opia begins with a power synthesizer and guitar creating a atmospheric signature. This is accompanied by a wonderful narrative piece eloquently done by Dan Harper. The narrative is a person really on a journey of soul searching. The instrumental atmosphere is very Pink Floydian in nature. Annke’s feminine vocal gives it a delicate balance diverse off the heavily brooding narrative the intro produces.
Sleep Paralysis opens with a more progressive metal side with a killer straight away riff compounded with great time signatures and hooks that continue the journey the project takes the listener in. A some points it is almost a neo progressive metal vibe. Lyrically it introduces you to the initial effects of when a stimulant based drug begins to consume the person physically, mentally and spiritually. There are some very old school hammond/mellotron elements in the backdrop that are on point.
Monday Morning begins with a very Ayreon vibe especially carrying elements of The Human Equation and 01011001. With some killer rhythm fills from the dums and the keyboards gradually taking you into the track makes for a very easy yet perplexed listen. At times it carries some StevenWilson type atmospheres with it.
Tomorrow Lies has a wonderful piano acoustical guitar intro with a heavy brooding bass drum rhythm progression. This carries many Floydian elements. Eli Monsef has a very unique and distinctive vocal. It often reminds me of Jonas Renske later Katatonia albums in its influence. Tomorrow Lies also contains a wonderful thought out and written orchestral section in the middle. This is followed up by a beautiful guitar solo passage. Tomorrows Lies also carries some various vocal effects that perfectly compliment the orchestral sections.
Lonesome Clown a unusual flamingo style acoustical vibe as it opens. This is supported wonderfully by Annke’s chant like vocals that are used more as a instrument. Amadeus Awad executes a double overdubbed vocal of Anneke in this one making her sound like many more than one. The vocal is almost choir like in nature while maintaining the lead vocal integrity. Then the track takes on a various series of neo progressive time signatures and hooks. This is followed by a beautiful bass guitar rhythm drum combination before going into a nice guitar solo. Lyrically it is as if the person is finding a way of escape from their predictimanet.
Temporary effectively ends the concept in the arrangement. It opens with a wonderful cello section on top the semi acoustical vibe. Arjen Lucassen soon comes in with his distinctive voice. Temporary carries a very Beatle-esque atmosphere to it. The clarinet solo is beautiful in the middle section. Temporary is the most orchestral based track on the concept that sounds like a symphony orchestra throughout the track.
There is track 7 – Time of The Equinox and track 8 – Poetry of Time that are pre order bonus tracks that effectively wet the curiosity of the listener waiting on Death Is Just A Feeling. While both are still heavily armed with orchestral atmospheres, Time of The Equinox is strictly instrumental while Poetry of Time contains lyrics.
Not since 2004’s Ayreon – The Human Equation where Me is in a coma for 20 days evaluating his life in his psyche, have I heard such concept with such personal conviction attached to it. Death Is JustA Feeling is a very emotionally driven and heavily atmospherically armed concept with many twists and turns within the human experience. Many feel this is possible Album of The Year material for 2015. I have to agree it is a strong heavy contender for it. I give this a 5/5 .
I always like a band that can build its own signature sound, build a career on it, all without having every album sound like the same thing over and over. Over the last 25 years or so, Royal Hunt have been one of those bands. While their peers such as Dream Theater, SymphonyX, and Threshold have been explained time and time again, Royal Hunt has seemed to go a little more under the radar in the Western Hemisphere of the world.
In 2015 it is time to start including Royal Hunt the discourse of breath of conversation with the bands I mentioned above. Due to overwhelming demand by the fans DC Cooper returns for the bands new album Devil’s Dozen. The Devil’s Dozen has 8 very powerful and melodic tracks. DCCooper returns and picks up as if he never left on Devil’s Dozen.
So Right So Wrong has a sweet rhythm intro with DC Cooper playing off the drums with a nice vocal echo overdubbed running side by side with his main vocal. The band also employs a great female choir symphony to serve as additional background vocals. There are so nice breaks off and on before Jonas Larsen’s good solo work.
May You Never (Walk Alone) begins with a nice piano section performed by legendary keyboardist Andre’ Andersen. Then the song explodes with a powerful instrumental 4/4 passage. Soon there is a great breaking section that seems to be a trend in the album where DC Cooper continues to sing more off the rhythm section of drums and bass. The solo has some power points where Jonas Larsen and Andre Andersen play off one another creating a power atmospheric vibe.
Heart On A Platter opens up with a killer bass led rhythm passage performed greatly by AndreasPassmark. This sets the tone quite nicely for the rest of the track. Heart On A Platter displays the bands rhythm prowess more than its stringed section. Andre Andersen incorporates some great violin and other orchestral effects in places as well. Once again the female choir symphony serves quite powerfully on backing vocals.
A Tear In The Rain opens with a all out orchestral assault between the keyboards, guitar in harmony with the bass and rhythm section. Included in the intro are backing chant like vocals. This is a up tempo track from the first to last note. Both a melodic and harmonic up tempo. A Tear In The Rain is a more traditional Royal Hunt signature. This one also has a very sick killer guitar solo.
Until The Day once again opens with a great yet dark piano passage along with some good vocal work. This track is probably the most orchestral track on the album. Until The Day borders on a power ballad in some places. The track has some moments of soul within the structure of lead to backing vocals. The band once again uses a beautiful female choir to beautifully articulate the more soulful moments on the track. The guitar solo has some great time signatures going in and out from hook to hook.
Riches To Rags has a wicked primal intro like old world
Until The Day once again opens with a great yet dark piano passage along with some good vocal work. This track is probably the most orchestral track on the album. Until The Day borders on a power ballad in some places. The track has some moments of soul within the structure of lead to backing vocals. The band once again uses a beautiful female choir to beautifully articulate the more soulful moments on the track. The guitar solo has some great time signatures going in and out from hook to hook.
Riches To Rags has a wicked primal intro like old world Celtic groove with a flute going side by side with the rhythm section. This track incorporates a male choral symphony along with the female choir. They most definitely give this track a 16th century instrumental vibe to the track. DC Coopers register is spot on on this one.
Way Too Late opens up as if it were a film score or movie soundtrack. This one literally sounds like Royal Hunt were watching a film and performed this live in studio. The rhythm section has a very deliberate presence of musicianship here. It will be interesting to see if the band will incorporate this with a symphony in live sets.
How Do You Know is definitely the straight up rock/metal track on Devil’s Dozen. The band wastes no time getting it going on this one. There is a straight away rock feel. The female vocals give this one a great vocal layer in background as well. It has some nice breaks towards the end both vocally and lyrically.
I was surprised honestly to see how much the band worked in unison on Devil’s Dozen. It was as if DC Cooper picked up where he left off in his absence away from Royal Hunt plus the introduction to new guitarist Jonas Larsen. I give Devil’s Dozen a 4/5.
Genre: Art Rock / Symphonic / Progressive Rock Band
Other Genres IO Earth Use:
Rock, Ambient, Jazz, Classical, World, Progressive Rock, Dance, Celtic, Contemporary, Folk, Metal, Symphonic Rock, Crossover Prog and many many more! Basically,
IO Earth is GENRE DEFYING!
Band Members
Linda Odinsen: Lead & Backing Vocals Dave Cureton: Lead, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitar, Lead & Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Programming Luke Shingler: Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute & EWI Adam Gough: Keyboards, Theremin, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Lead & Backing Vocals, Programming Jez King: Violin & Rhythm Guitar
‘Genre Defying’ as the band IO Earth places upon themselves is a total understatement. I would go on record now to say they ‘Genre Shattering’. I was as if a mirror were broken and the total sum of its shattered pieces represented many its influential parts. This band has deliberately made sure that the progressive rock/metal community use their own judgement and draw their own conclusion without any other influence outside what you hear on IO Earth’s – New World album.
This is perhaps one of the most challenging reviews I have written in my 15 years of reviewing albums. Although the band has two other studio releases before New World, it is in fact New World that will cement them as one of the top progressive bands in the world today. New World is a double album with 16 tracks. None of those 16 tracks are alike yet they still have the IO Earth signature to them where you know it is them without second guessing.
Following in the tradition of Renaissance and Annie Halsam with Renate Knaupf of Amon Duii during the the pioneer years of women in and Joanna Hogg of IONA and Christina Booth of Magenta with some Heather Findley ex-Mostly Autumn,Linda Odinsen of IO Earth bridges the gap between the pioneers and innovators and transcends generations with her power yet beautiful vocal melodies on New World. That is no easy task either considering IO Earth can not be pigeonholed into any one genre. At times Linda Odinsen reminds me of even Candice Night of Blackmores Night in certain areas of New World.
Move As One opens up as if ocean waves are crashing against the shore. It is also as if LindaOdinsen and the Adam Gough – keyboards are standing at the edge of the shore in this open ballad. Move As One is a definitely sets the mood for Redemption.
Redemption begins as a straight away prog metal/rock vibe with Dave Cureton letting it rip. There is some killer rhythm riffs between Christian Jerromes -Drums & Percussion and Christian Nokes – Bass Guitar & Double Bass. Linda then comes in and uses her voice for more of a orchestral chant than actual vocal. At the 2:28 mark Luke Shingler – uses a tenor Saxophone to create a killer spot on far east oriental sound. At the 2:58 mark the band employs a delightful Arabic scale with the combination of Jez King – Violin and either Dave Cureton or Adam Gough on keyboards. Redemption definitely begins to convince the listener that this band is truly ‘Genre Defying’. At the 4:00 mark there is a killer signature bending guitar solo that works off time yet on time with the rest of the instrumental.
Journey To Discovery reminds me much of the chant vocal work Nightwish used on their CenturyChild and Once albums, especially on a track like Ghost Love Score. At the :28 markDave Crueton really lets it out. At the 1:00 mark it is as if Linda created her own language for this track especially in the opening verse. Thr drums contain some great melodic chimes in the background. Journey To Discovery is just that a discovery of the bands continued arsenal of talent of progression.
Trance begins with a beautiful acoustic passage. At the :32 mark there is a great yet bizzare spoken word segment combined with gorgeous chants. Trance sits on a pure Arabic scale and vibe both in the rhythm section and stringed section. It also contains male backing chants serving as backing vocals. The soprano saxophone reminds me a lot of early work of the band Chicago and later Magellan, however with a more Arabic middle eastern scale progression.
Morning opens with a lush harmony of piano like keyboards and flute setting a ethereal mood for the fabulous vocals of Linda. Morning reminds me of elements Blackmores Night uses on albums such as Ghost Of A Rose and Village Lantern with elements IONA used on albums like The Kell’s and Journey To The Mourn. Lyrically it is a introspective song of love and inviting it in to one’s life.
Collision lives up to its name alone. This is the band at its ‘Genre Shattering’ best. There is a certain explosion of several time signatures, tones and progressions and killer drum chimes. Although it is number 6 in the arrangement this is the track where the band really tighten up in sound, vibe and instrumentally. This is also one of the darker tracks on New World opening with a deep dark atmospheric passage. The intro is as dark as many chamber music tracks however in a progressive rock/metal vibe. I anticipate Collision to be a favourite in live sets also.
Fade To Grey a wonderful acoustical intro before it explodes with a layered stringer section between the violin perfectly timed with the rhythm section. Fade To Grey in its nature is a progressive rock ballad. This is definitely one written and recorded with more layering progressions in mind than say a typical progressive time signature. The saxophone solo really adds a acid jazz vibe to it before the guitars come layered with the sax to produce a unique sound. The guys really compliment Linda with their backing vocals towards the end.
New World Suite is another track that opens much like a chamber like track with a dark violin and wonderful cymbal and chime percussion work beautifully coming together in harmony. Soon it takes off like a straight on progressive rock track with multiple time signatures and hooks. There are points in New World Suite that remind me of a film score with the violin and percussion signatures running alongside vocal chants. New World Suite sounds as if they are all watching a film and recording a score with a conductor front and centre.
Insomnia starts off with a dark keyboard passage with a spoken word verse in the background. This is followed up with the many instruments in a orchestral progression. Soon the vocals kick in really dark ambient in nature. The chorus contains heavy elements combined with a choir style vocal layered with Linda’s lead vocal. Another highlight to Insomnia is the beautiful soprano sax blended and layered with spoken word passages telling a story. The vocal chorus’ are borderline metal in nature however appealing to the progressive rock purist. The guitar solo and rhythm solo has some serious wicked time signatures play off one another and at times are blistering making this one of the heavier tracks on New World.
Red Smoke begins with a world music style vibe much like Enya or Dead Can Dance. The drums have this odd style time signature that stands out the traditional 4/4. About the the 2:00 mark DaveCrueton has a wicked distorted guitar vibe that plays off the already wicked rhythm section. About the 3:58 mark Linda’s vocal sounds like a cross of Annie Halsam Prog Rock Britannia and Renate Knaupf with a old school Krautrock vibe combined. Another highlight is the Arabic Scale played in different keys.
The Rising begins with a spoken word section much like a news report talking about the events of September , 11th , 2001. After which the guitar goes :30 seconds with a melancholic passage. 2:00 minutes in the tenor saxophone comes in harmony with the string section and the keyboard section. The Rising tastefully pays respect to those lost that day in instrumental harmony. The Rising reminds me a lot of Dream Theater’s – The Spirit Carries On with a twist of Sacrificed Sons. The Rising is a track that explains in very few words the triumph over tragedy.
Body And Soul continues with the dark slow atmospheric passage intro’s that the second half of NewWorld seems to have. This is very introspective lyrically. About the 2:30 mark the track gets quite a bit heavier with the band playing with more conviction. One of the highlights is most definitely the flute in the middle in time and sync with the double kick cymbals in the percussion area. At the 5:00mark it once again takes off with heavier melodies and harmonies both lyrically and instrumentally.
Colours starts out with a really heavy bottom rhythm harmony between guitar, bass and drums with some small shred elements incorporated. IO Earth display the very many sides and time signatures they have within their harmonic arsenal. Colours is a track that even will sit well with the most picky progressive hard rock/metal purists. The guitar time progression towards the end reminds me a little of Crimson Glory’s – Where Dragons Rule off 1986’s Transcendence.
Follow begins like a atmospheric melodic fog setting over the acoustical progression. At the 1:00 mark takes off and gets heavier. This is yet again one of those ‘Genre Defying’ tracks due to the fact the male vocals sound more like the more ambient alternative band like The Church – Under TheMilky Way than anything in the progressive rock scene. The guitar solo smoke towards the end.
Dreams open almost in a reggae zydeco vibe. The male and female ambient vocals are like nothing I have truly heard and to make comparison here would not do it justice. Dreams as a whole has a soothing quality to it. It is most definitely for those who like ambient rock with killer jazz saxophone’s and drums. It is like ambient progressive jazz than anything.
New World has a more traditional progressive rock. With steady hard rock passages and typical keyboard tracking. It is also perfectly arranged where the track serves as a finale track to this double album known as its namesake New World. It has great piano passage in the middle with vocals serving more as instrumental chants. The drums truly surface as the backbone in this one as well.
As I end this review I sit here in shock about how so many genres, time signatures and chord progressions were represented. I have not been it this amount of awe and wonder of a band like IOEarth’s – New World since Pain of Salvation’s BE. IO Earth have a uncanny ability to move more past the conventional wisdom on how Progressive Rock/Metal albums should be written and recorded.
Although it is only August IO Earth’s- New World sits in my top 3 of Albums of 2015. It is definitely a strong contender for my ‘Prog Album of 2015.’ I give this a 5/5 for sheer talent and originality.
Over twenty plus years and 11 albums to their credit, Symphony X have surely been a banner band in the world of progressive metal. Along with some of their typical peers such as Dream Theater, Vanden Plas, Pain Of Salvation, Fates Warning, etc , Symphony X have had a influential hand in the community of progressive metal that has held up of the course of time.
While some bands have gone through roster changes, revamped sounds, and going off to the land of solo & side project land, Symphony X have managed to stay together as one of the stronger more cohesive units. Members have done that as well, however once they come back together as a band it has been as if they never took a break and remained consistent in their sound, attitude and structure.
Their new offering Underworld confirms and justifies all my claims mentioned above. Underworld certainly has elements of their last three albums Iconoclast, Paradise Lost and Odyssey. The band also continues to mature and grow with every album they release. Although their are no 10-25 minute epics like Divine Wings Of Tragedy, Odyssey & Iconoclast, the album is still epic in nature. The band has kept Underworld more in the vibe of The Damnation Game, V: The Mythology Suite and Paradise Lost. With all that now said let’s examine Symphony X’s – Underworld.
Overture opens up with killer male choir like chat much in the vein as home Prelude opened up 2000’s V: The Mythology Suite. Mike Pinnella’s keyboard sets a very dark mood before the rest of the band goes into a unified orchestral progression of rhythm between the bass of Mike LePond and drum work of Jason Rullo that continues like a march to melodic battle towards the next track Nevermore.
Nevermore takes off with a blistering progressive/power metal signature. Russell Allen soon enters in with some of the very serious aggressive vocals which he has seemed to execute since Paradise Lost. Vocals that are very smooth and melodic on one hand and on the other hand a more rough crunchy almost growl. The instrumental portion is a bit progressive thrash metal in nature. The are some wicked signatures and hooks that subtly come up to grab the listener especially with the shred solo’s by Michael Romeo.
Underworld is obviously the title track on the album. Underworld has some of the most brutal vocals I have ever heard from Russell Allen. It is as if he picked up where Iconoclast left of. There is also a wonderful male choral chant serving as backing vocals. Mike LePond’s bass work really starts to show through in its very distinctive style. The very distinctive style that makes him one of the foremost sought after bass players for other musicians and projects outside Symphony X.
Without You has a more traditional old school melodic sound the band had with Edge Of Forever from 199’5 s The Damnation Game, Candlelight Fantasia from 1997’s The Divine Wings OfTragedy or Wicked from 2002’s The Odyssey. Mike Pinnella’s keyboard work is a major highlight on this one.
Kiss Of Fire is without a doubt the heaviest and most brutal track on Underworld. Jason Rullo damn near enters the realms of black metal with his relentless double bass drum blast beats. The bridge, chorus, verse combination’s flow much in a Pantera southern groove metal vibe. Kiss Of Fire most definitely has some of Michael Romeo’s most diverse lead to rhythm work in the band’s history. The lyrical content even compliments the instrumental perfectly.
Charon displays some great melodic elements. Although it is only 6:06 in time it contains some elements that the bands 24:09The Odyssey. The vocals are smooth and harmonic with the chord progression’s and rhythm sections. There is a killer time signature on the Outro in this one.
To Hell And Back sounds like a departure of the typical Symphony X ‘majestic sound’. In some ways the intro sounds like a really heavy ‘AOR/Hard Rock’ progression. However not for long. To Hell And Back is very diverse following some killer time signatures on different key sounds and notes. The way they wrote and recorded this makes the guitar solo sound like two solo’s into one signature. At the midway point the vocals are very tastefully brutal. There appears to be a guitar/instrumental solo every 2:50 mark then the band goes back to lead verse in different progressions and keys.
In My Darkest Hour is a 4:22 progressive frenzy going from smooth slow melodic harmonies to majestic bridge, chorus, verse work. The other highlight that is obvious is the fast progressive groove metal instrumentals. This one again contains a shred style guitar solo perfectly timed.
Run With The Devil is a highly up tempo track crafting fast aggressive signatures. This track is a sheer fast, aggressive instrumental song with smooth vocal melodies. The time signatures between instrumental and vocals go from one range to the other side of the spectrum throughout the entire composition. The keyboards and guitars make for a unique smooth sound on this one as well.
Swansong begins with a beautiful piano and drum combination. The piano and drums definitely remind me of Accolade I and Accolade II with portions of V: The Mythology Suite. Swansong most definitely has the warmest harmonies and vocals on Underworld.
Legend starts as a straight away prog metal song with some powerful, yet basic 4/4 signatures. It contains very fast instrumental melodies with the instrumentalists, with Michael Romeo bending the stray wicked chord in certain portions. Even is some portions Russell Allen uses his voice as an instrument to portray a few chants. Legend is also arranged perfectly on the album being the last track.
Symphony X have created another great well written and produced masterpiece with Underworld. Anyone of the tracks on this album will be great to hear live. This gets a 4/5 for arrangement and its evolutionary nature. It will be interesting to listen to any of these tracks live as well.
2015 is definitely starting to be a banner year in the world of progressive rock and progressive metal. Many bands are stepping up their game and coming out of the wood work with masterpieces. Australia’s own Arcane are at the forefront with their hand on the standard. Their double album Known/Learned is surely to turn heads. Take parts or Riverside, Dream Theater and Subsignal’s and throw in a portion of TOOL and you have Arcane.
Yet to make even those comparisons to the bands I mentioned above still do not do justice to the utterly organic sound Arcane have seemed to forge for themselves. They have even shared the stage with bands like Soilwork, Queensryche, Anathema to name a few. Although one can only speculate who their musical influences are, you sure can not hear them on Known/Learned as the band has made every effort to form its own sound and identity as to not become pigeonholed or typecast into any sub genre in the progressive rock and metal world. Hopefully this review will wet the curiosity of some to look into Arcane and make a purchase for Known/Learned.
CD 1 / Known
Promise (Part 2) displays some serious orchestration in the intro before going into a straight away progressive metal passage. It also has some killer atmospheric effects as a wonderful backdrop. At about the 1:45 mark , Jim Grey gently floats into this vocal that reminds me of the vibe that Mariusz Duda of Riverside would employ. At about the 3:26 mark a whole other hook and progression explodes. Matt Martin really has some stellar keyboard. At the 3:51 mark, Michael Gagen really takes the track on a whole other time signature making the track sound like two songs in one.
Unturning begins with a killer guitar shred intro. Soon a deep bass drum rhythm section comes in via Brenden Brown – Bass & Blake Coulson – Drums. This is followed once again by the warm vocal style of Jim Grey. Blake employs a lot of snare, tom, double bass drum action. The track them proceeds to a crunchy distorted type progression while Jim almost employ’s a spoken word vocal. Instrumentally the band combines a distorted crunchy rhythm section with elements of a shred laced within it.
Instinct opens with a very dark piano passage with a warm gentle vocal and a light snare in the background. This is soon followed up by a gentle guitar passage. The lead vocals are soon joined by some great atmospheric echoes with backing vocals. The vocals even sound at times like they are gently pumped through a echo chamber perhaps with a megaphone. At the mid point the piano softens and the vocal goes into more of a chant. Then the track really takes off with a heavier signature and a vocal chant register style.
Womb (In Memoriam) opens with a heavy fuzzy style organ like progressive bands of early progressive and psychadelic rock. The warm vocal is much more choral in nature gpoing from a barotone style to a mezzo and alto register leading into the next track Selfsame.
Selfsame has a wonderful acoustic guitar opening the track on top of a gentle vocal. At the 1:50 mark the track transcendental explodes. There seems to be a back and forth of this progression. On top of the atmospheric keyboards there are some serious time signatures and back and forth guitar solos that range from the distorted to the smooth anywhere from the typical 4/4 to 7/8 and in between. At the 5:13 mark the track blisters the ears wonderfully with some serious heavy work heading towards a heavy progression like melodic stalking.
Holding Atropos starts with a beautiful guitar and deep heavy brooding rhythm section. This track carries elements of Riverside’s – Out Of My Mind & Second Life Syndrome with a part of Opeth’s –In My Time Of Need from Damnation.
Keeping Stone Sound On Fire has some really great drum and keyboard work in the beginning. Soon it explodes into a deep detuned progressive metal frenzy with distorted passages and wonderfully execute breaks. The rhythm section is insanely thunderous in its nature. Some of the thunderous rhythm section reminds me of much of Cynic’s work meets TOOL while maintaining great emotion. There is a killer bottom drop towards the end with some serious bass and rhytmic guitar effects.
Learned is the epic of this double album masterpiece. Learned instantly ranks up there with the Fates Warning’s – Ivory Gate Of Dreams and Pleasant Shades of Grey, Dream Theater’s – ChangeOf Season’s, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence & The Count Of Tuscany as well as SymphonyX’s – Odyssey & Divine Wings Of Tragedy.
Learned begins as a slow vocal melody with what appears to be a waterfall effect. Thereafter the drums and piano make for a very unusual yet creative effect. This is all followed up by a heavy distorted crunchy rhythm section with the guitar. The bass also is more percussive in nature than melodic in the intro. Learned takes off with the band in full instrumental harmony with the vocals not that far behind. Their are multiple guitar solos that have a bridge, chorus, verse style to them on the harmonic instrumental side. The band at times have to be math geniuses with their execution and delivery of the time signatures throughout this 23:15 track. Jim Grey seems to be getting stronger vocally as this double album concept progresses. Learned is one of those tracks that when played live will demand the listeners attention as it takes them on a genuine journey especially if the band does it all in its entirety.
CD 2 / Learned
Hunter, Heart & Home has a killer acoustic opening. After which a very deep rhythm section between the drums and bass now played by Mick Millard. Hunter, Heart & Home is a rhythm section players dream in the structure by which it is written. The vocals flow in and out between some great background vocals that appear to be chants at times. The acoustic guitar sections remind me of a lot of Arjen Luccassen’s acoustical portions from Ayreon – The Human Equation project. I really enjoy the auxiliary percussion elements in this one as well.
Little Burden has one serious electric acoustic sections blended with a mellotron style keyboard. Little Burden is perhaps the more simple tracks as far as time signatures and changes in progressions are concerned. The double kick cymbal in the drums puts a perfect backing accent to the track. The guitar solo reminds me a lot of Al Dimeola with the fingering theory employed.
Impatience And Slow Poison takes off with so more masterful acoustic work. There seems to be a more mellow vibe trending now on CD 2/ Learned. Impatience And Slow Poison is no exception. At certain periods there seems to be some jazz influence with the drum work incorparating more snare, tom and cymbal work instead of aggressive blast beats. The piano is totally in time with the drums on this one blending more in harmony than going out on its own to lead the track.
Known ironically is ten times shorter than its CD 1 counterpart title track Learned. At 2:50 it incorporates great acoustic work. Known is a very introspective track both instrumentally and lyrically. Known sounds like they sat down at the stool and just played the entire thing live in studio and with only one take.
Nightingale’s Weave continues in the mellow acoustical vein. Jim perfectly overdubs his background chants to compliment his lead vocal portions. Nightingale’s Weave is one of the most emotional tracks I have heard in a decade. Nightingale’s Weave has a vibe much in the way Transatlantic does with Bridge Across Forever meets Enchant’s – Broken Wave off 2000’s Juggling 9 Dropping 10.
Eyes For The Change takes off with a really deep bottom with the bass and acoustic 6 string guitars. The vocal is soft and warm much like the second half of this double concept has been. The listener can hear a subtle cowbell and even a rainstick effect utilized with the auxiliary percussion kit used by Blake Coulson. The rest of the track has some smooth jazz style guitars with progressive rock signatures and themes.
Keeping Stone-Water Awake opens with a beautiful organ much like what you would hear when you listen to a orchestra and choir. Jim really has more of a Steven Wilson vibe. Slow and steady. Melodic and methodical. This also contains some wonderful spoken word passages within the background. Keeping Stone-Water Awake is a beautiful atmospheric tapestry. It is as if a a person is looking back on life in the first person narrative.
Promise (Part 1) closes this masterpiece with nice finger work on the acoustic guitar and deep dark rhythmic elements. The drum work gives it a semi up tempo vibe while the track remains in the trend of soft melodic bliss. Promise (Part 1) sounds lie the end of a love letter and last chapter of a novel/memoir.
I really enjoyed this journey and concept. Arcane’s Known/Learned. It is definitely one of the best concept albums over the last 15 years. Arcane’s Known/Learned ranks up there with the likes of Dream Theater’s – Metropolis 2 Scenes From A Memory, Pain Of Salvation’s- BE & Remedy Lane, Shadow Gallery’s- Tyranny/Room V combination concept and Vanden Plas’- Crist O concepts. This is definitely a concept many will look back on another 15 to 20 years from now as a inspiration or perhaps a blueprint due to its organic melodic nature. Arcane’s – Known/Learned is a definite front runner for Prog Metal album of 2015. I give it a 5/5 for its sheer orginality and musicianship merits.
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