They have done it again.
Lost Horizon have delivered a magnificent feast of powerful, agressive and melodic music, overflowing with emotion and positive spirits. After listening to
A flame to the ground beneath for the past couple of months, I'm finally convinced. They have done the near-impossible and surpassed their debut. I can even say that they have surpassed it by far. This is just incredible.
A flame to the ground beneath is one of those exhilarating experiences, I don't get very often.
Lost Horizon play Metal of a high technical level and they manage to convey many recogniseable emotions through their music and lyrics. The fantastic thing is how well the music fits the lyrics and the powerful theme of the album.
Lost Horizon is indeed an intense experience and only very few bands are able to give me this kind of feeling (Manowar ,
Enuff Z'nuff ,
Savatage ,
Pain of Salvation , The Beatles ,
Dream Theater ,
Psychotic Waltz ,
Virgin Steele and
Fates Warning are some of them...)
In short, this is music that inspires.
I don't want to give too much away here, but I feel the need to write a little about every song, so if you want to discover everything yourself, then just trust me and buy this album as soon as possible. Otherwise, here we go...
Listening to the 2 minute intro is like a journey to a completely relaxed state of mind, before all hell breaks loose in
Pure.
Pure shows the first signs of change since
Awakening the world. The composition is more complex and the song is packed with breaks and tempo changes, yet everything flows incredibly well.
In fact this describes all the songs on the album. Complex compositions with an incredible flow. With three out of six real songs having a running time over 8 minutes and the rest around 6 minutes, you can probably imagine that these are no typical straight ahead metal tracks. The many layers and complexity in the music is dazzling at times. You can be sure that this album will take some time to get into, but even after two months of daily listening, I don't see myself ever getting tired of it. Always a sign of a classic.
Pure is ruled by a fantastic crisp guitar sound (all the songs have this quality). The guitar parts will make you smile and go "Ahhh..." They have a special quality to them that brings a kind of soaring feeling to the music and a feeling of being lifted off the ground. Sometimes the guitar harmonises with the vocals of Daniel Heiman (like at the ending of the first verse) and this adds a very special touch. Excellent! The lyrics of
Pure are about being, just that.
Lost in the depths of me starts out with a cool melodic and somehow uplifting guitar solo, before changing into a slower, heavy riff for the verse. Hold your breath for the change that occurs about halfway through. It's a spine chiller... A very bombastic mid-tempo song, with more divine singing and excellent guitar parts, about never giving up. I have also found this track one of the hardest to get into.
Again will the fire burn almost feels like a continuation of Lost in the depths of me, both musically and lyrically. The tempo is a little faster but still mid-tempo, and here is a chance to enjoys some extremely cool bass playing. The lyrics are again strong in their message about overcoming all obstacles and finding your inner voice.
The song of Earth is a short instrumental that continues the tradition of The song of Air from Awakening the world.
Cry for a restless soul is another monster song, about the continuos search for inner truth. The first two minutes alone have so many cool breaks and small parts that, if it does not leave you breathless, then the verse that ensues will. Daniel sings in a very powerful way, and it's like the other instruments carry his voice to the high extremes. The drums on this song stand out too, with their galloping rythm.
Think not forever starts out with a typical Daniel scream (A good thing :) It is a very powerful song, both musically and lyrically, where it brings a true message. I love it. Daniel surpasses himself again in this song with another chilling album highlight. The line
"You should follow your spirit as your guide" is sung with such passion that you forget everything around you and just fly away with the music. Again the emotional guitar playing helps achieve this special feeling thoughout the song..
Every song is a little masterpiece in itself, but nothing surpasses the splendour of the 12 minute epic
Highlander (The One). This song is incredible and almost out of this world. This one is worth the entire album. Daniel's perfomance on here is competely mindblowing. He sings with such passion that you would think he's reciting a shakespearean play and his life depended on it... The song leaves me breathless and with a feeling of awe. With enough parts to make up several good songs it could easily have felt like a jumbled mess, but the way it is put together, the song flows perfectly with one part being succeeded by an even better one. The finishing instrumental "race for the finish line" is excellent too. My favourite song of the year so far.
Deliverance is a good way to get back down on earth after this complete Metal onslaught of power and emotion.
The songs on A flame to the ground beneath somehow feel more connected than on Awakening the world and together they form an album of immense proportions.
The production is pretty much perfect. Especially the guitar sound is beyond amazing. Every instrument is played to perfection. The most apparant instruments are the guitars played by Wojtek Lisicki and Fredrik Olsson. They are everywhere and keep the album fresh and interesting, with one majestic melody and solo run after another. The drums are very technical, tight and lay a perfect background for the rest of the band. Christian Nyquist plays with great skill, and it's fascinating to just sit down and try to keep up with the inventive drumming.
An honorable mention also goes to the bass playing of Martin Furängen. He plays along with the exquisite drumming on most songs and helps give the band their extremely tight sound. When he breaks loose from the drums the result is amazing, like on
Again will the fire burn.
The keyboard is wisely kept in the background most of the time, and used to enchance the atmosphere of songs. Attila Publik gives the keyboard a special light sound that fits the other instruments perfectly in every single song.
Throughout the album Singer Daniel Heiman puts on a jaw dropping performance. His powerful voice is able to express all kinds of emotion and throughout every song, he surpasses himself again and again. He is able to sing with a very clear high voice without it sounds like he's straining.
So, what we have here is my favourite release of the year so far. The passion of the bands members is obvious and tranfers across to the listener with great impact.
The lyrical message the album brings is a strong one about being true to yourself and doing what you feel is right in life. Like I said earlier lyrics and music combined manage to convey this message with huge passion. The album feels like a hymn to the power of each individual on this planet.
No matter what you may think of the image of
Lost Horizon, there's no denying that their music is incredible, and the message in their songs rings true. There are countless spine chilling moments on A flame to the ground beneath, and at times it feels like it almost defies time and space.
A flame to the ground beneath is not easily digested. The songs are incredibly complex and feel very packed together. I could keep on writing for a long time about all the little ingenious details, I have started to notice after many listens, but I will leave that for you to discover. I'm sure that I will pull out this album in many years and still be amazed by what I hear.
Lost Horizon are not directly comparable to any other band. They have managed to create an instantly recogniseable sound, and hopefully they will keep their legacy alive for many years to come.
A powerful and inspiring album with beautiful music.
Written by
Steen Tuesday, April 1, 2003
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