progressive metal / power metal
 |  Support Merchants Of Air Check out our THISISNOTABANDSHIRT collection |
We're still in Finland and of course we're still in good metal company. What else would you expect, right? This time however, we are going on a journey (isn't it always a journey?) though a futuristic sci-fi world, created by Simulacrum. This is their second album, but since I'm not familiar with the debut, it feels like a first contact. This concept album is a true group-effort, allowing no outside interference. From writing the songs to (maybe) folding the booklets, they did everything themselves.
The album opens kinda industrially, continues progrocky, takes a jazzy turn sometimes and is loaded with thick riffs and overwhelming orchestral elements. Yet, above all it's an attention-grabbing piece of work that surely has the power to stun the listener several times. While most of the song remind me a lot of bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X or Shadow Gallery, there sure is some place for old school German power metal.
'Behind The Belt Of Orion' and 'Embrace The Animal Within' are highly immersive piece of symphonic metal, perhaps a bit like Yes on distortion. Yet, what surprised me most was the sudden saxophone solo in 'Broken'. It suddenly turns the whole of the music towards decent jazz, proving the technical skills of the artists involved. Because yes, this is not something that the musical amateur from down the road creates.
The complex song structures, the flashing solos, the massive orchestral arrangements... They all show a well-attuned band, featuring some trained and experienced members. They put a lot of effort and probably the proverbial blood, sweat and tears into this album and for that they surely deserve the attention of the progressive metal scene. So check it out if you're a fan of metallic bombast, you won't be disappointed...
Serge
The album opens kinda industrially, continues progrocky, takes a jazzy turn sometimes and is loaded with thick riffs and overwhelming orchestral elements. Yet, above all it's an attention-grabbing piece of work that surely has the power to stun the listener several times. While most of the song remind me a lot of bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X or Shadow Gallery, there sure is some place for old school German power metal.
'Behind The Belt Of Orion' and 'Embrace The Animal Within' are highly immersive piece of symphonic metal, perhaps a bit like Yes on distortion. Yet, what surprised me most was the sudden saxophone solo in 'Broken'. It suddenly turns the whole of the music towards decent jazz, proving the technical skills of the artists involved. Because yes, this is not something that the musical amateur from down the road creates.
The complex song structures, the flashing solos, the massive orchestral arrangements... They all show a well-attuned band, featuring some trained and experienced members. They put a lot of effort and probably the proverbial blood, sweat and tears into this album and for that they surely deserve the attention of the progressive metal scene. So check it out if you're a fan of metallic bombast, you won't be disappointed...
Serge
