Once in a while you get an album that somehow sounds very different from everything you have heard before. This release goes into that category. In this case this also means that it's very progressive, but then again in other places it's quite down to earth, the brilliant production enhances the album even more, allowing every minor detail to enter the main stage.
I'm a big fan of
Vanden Plas so I was of course quite interested to find out what singer Andy Kuntz had come up with in this new project called Abydos. I wouldn't really say that this has much to do with
Vanden Plas's music that is more powerful and not that experimenting and musical-like, then again some atmospheres and catchy melodies makes me think a bit of Andy's other band.
To fully get under the skin of this challenging creation I will do short tour of the album, giving my opinion of the twelve songs before adding some concluding remarks.
The Inhabitants Of His Diary: A quite hard instrumental opener with lost of progressive twists.
Before you know it we are back to basics as
You Broke The Sun starts off in a placid manner. In short this is an amazing and very diverse track with some killer bass parts.
Silence is one of the least "odd" songs featuring lots of fantastic vocal passages coming from Andy's warm and reassuring voice, he truly has a most remarkable and unique style. This is also one of the heaviest songs on the album, varied drumming, raw guitars and duelling keys and leads. My guess is that fans of Dream Theater, Symphony X, Threshold,
Vanden Plas, Poverty's No Crime,
Ayreon and so on will love this song, a guess that goes for the album in general, just don't expect the whole album to sound like any other bands.
From Away From Heaven is simply put one of the best songs I have ever heard, a perfect ballad that touches deep, having a fantastic striking mood. The catchy chorus line gets lifted up even higher due to the huge orchestral background and the supporting choirs are sounding huge too; this is simply just a magical firework of the most thrilling kind.
A very ingenious key solo, fantastic bass play and a memorable refrain are some of many fine elements making up
Coppermoon (The Other Side), complex and yet melodic.
Hyperion Sunset blends heavy drumming, spacy keys and some not that well working vocal effects into a very challenging effort. You really have to be on your marks to follow this one, it has multiple missions but that also makes it a very interesting composition.
God's Driftwood was one of the latest songs to open up for me but then I also began to enjoy it more and more. The use of the acoustic guitar is a wise choice; it really adds a nice contrast to the otherwise very raw bass and heavy guitar riffs.
Next up is the wonderfully odd
Radio Earth having a special
attractive effect, its ultra melodic rhythm and chorus drags you in to an experimenting cosmos of positive energies, never heard anything quite like it and I loved it from the first listening.
Abydos is a 7-minute dark shrouded mystic epic where menacing keyboard moods take a central role; it's theatrical, symphonic and impressive to say the least.
Green's Guidance For A Strategy Adventure Game: Without doubt one of the weirdest songs I have come across, spacy keys and vocal effects in a strange mix up, it's quite hypnotic but not exactly fantastic.
I'm very impressed by the musical delivery on this record; we are clearly dealing with very competent people. The bass performance is extremely groovy, just take a listen to
Wildflowersky and you'll get and idea of what I mean. In this song I begin to miss some consistency in the structure, it is nevertheless a great song with a melodic guitar solo, the picture just falls a bit apart towards the end.
Spiced with grand orchestrations
A Boy Named Fly is the albums 12-minute closing opus and again atmosphere is a key word. Harmonious piano tunes get smashed to the ground by raw monster riffs and groundbreaking bass passages; yes this is indeed diverse music that challenges the listener all the time.
The thematic acoustic guitar passage is completely wonderful and Andy's vocals are both thrilling and comforting at the same time.
I think that it is very important for the Heavy Metal genre that someone once in a while engages in something that can be labelled as truly original, almost everything can of course to some extent be compared to other musical directions out there, but I really feel like this album has touched some new ground.
I'm not saying that Metal music needs to evolve in a certain direction or at all for that matter, that's a matter of taste, hey I like everything
AC/DC has done, on the other hand it's also cool when something new emerges and stimulate your audible senses.
That this is a very personal album adds to the feeling of uniqueness. The album is a special concept where many strong feelings sees the light, dealing with loss and finding the right path in life are some of many elements, again it all seems a bit complex and new things emerges from time to time, that's one of the cool things about such profound lyrics.
This has developed into one of the best and most impressive releases of the year, a special, compelling and wonderful 70-minute journey.
This album is just as captivating and inventive as it's title is long
Top highlights:
Silence,
From Away From Heaven,
Radio Earth,
Abydos and
A Boy Named Fly.Written by
Tommy Monday, October 4, 2004
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 8.5/10Members: 8/10 - Average of 1 ratings.
Member ratings
 | Steen (Staff)
Rating: 8/10
Maybe the most mental album title ever? Fortunately the album lives up to its title and br... · Read more · |
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