Section A is new band formed by Danish guitarist and multi-artist
Torben Enevoldsen (guitar, bass keyboards,) he has joined forces with singer Andy Engberg (former Lion's Share) and
Vanden Plas drummer Andreas Lill, and just for the record the musicianship on this release is of very high standard.
The music in general fits into the territory of Progressive Metal, with lots of changing passages, technical explorations and a considerable symphonic dimension.
The Seventh Sign is the first cut and also one of the albums best. A long, epic and well-structured journey with great progressive guitar passages and a strong vocal performance by Andy Engberg.
Derek Sherinian guest with the first of two key solo performances on the record and this gives the song a new dimension, it has a distant sound to it, which in fact fits nicely while the technical level is quite high. His unique contributions on this record and especially the sound of his keyboard solos have a clear link to his work on Dream Theater's Falling Into Infinity.
The mysticism that lies in the lyric melts perfectly together with the dark and foggy atmosphere created by a great background-luring keyboard.
The album also has simpler and more direct approaches to offer, as in
Riot where the guitar has a central role, especially in the extensive solo part. I guess that the degree to which people will like this album highly depends on how much they are into these adventurous guitar journeys, most of the times I find them pretty natural coming, but as in this one I think its stretched a bit far out of what is fitting if the overall impression of the song should not be too blurred.
The flow of the main rhythm in this one follows a slightly tiresome curse and the laid back chorus is not working that well either, a song which displays cool grooves and well performed passages but all in all the main result is fair.
Pray For Rain pursues a slower and quite dreaming style, the mood created is very relaxing and the mixture of electric and acoustic guitars gives a pleasant and calm feeling. But again I can't help feeling that the song has a hard time keeping the attention of the listener with its too unexciting and predictable flow.
Tomorrow is an almost 10-minute track that pretty much sums up what this record has to offer and in this one all elements are tied together in just the right respect resulting in my favourite piece. Heavy rhythm guitar passages, raw and intense singing, abundance of exiting changes and masterful lead guitar parts, grooving bass lines, technical drums with flair for both solidity and detail, fantastic underlying keyboard moods, a huge binding chorus and a splendid thrilling guest appearance by keyboard virtuoso Günter Werno (
Vanden Plas).
One thing I miss reflecting on these songs is faster parts! I mean there are many occasions where the build-up would fit perfect for a high paced passage but then the overall mid-tempo standard is gone for instead, it becomes just a bit too much the same thing. This said the slower elements are a big plus for the record and they work very well.
The ending track
Into The Fire makes up for some of the lack of fast and aggressive aspects. A great intense double bass drumming leading chorus with some dynamic guitar work is just great stuff. The energized drumming from Andreas and a surprising slow ending section where Torben delivers some mesmerizing leads helps makes this another great song.
Torben has produced the album on his own and the result is very transparent, detailed and at times very bombastic. The lyric ranges from quite simple in character to very good ones that have a clear personal and self-searching perspective, all in all the lyrical and musical side interacts nicely.
Fans of Dream Theater,
Vanden Plas or/and perhaps
Ayreon could find this release of special interest as any other with a taste for progressive music with central guitar playing.
My conclusion is that The Seventh Sign is a very technical, diverse and atmospheric record that goes very well with those days when you just feel like listening to something that invites you into a pleasant and almost sedative world where harder aspects from time to time break the ice quite suitably.
Written by
Tommy Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 6.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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