Yet another hugely strong prog rock record from
Roine Stolt (Flower Kings) and Keyboardist/Composer Hans Lundin, with a band whose history goes all the way back decades. Very much along the lines of Spock's Beard and
The Flower Kings (surprise, surprise, look who on this record) standards of modern prog rock, edgy, filled with symphonic overtones of neo-classical endeavors copulating with the occasional pop hook and structuring to compliment the virtuosic musicianship within extended opuses to give the symphonic flare to such a massive effort from a finely tuned and discrete record.
Filled with the warm synthesizers, organs, pianos, string and choir mellotron soundscapes, string quartet orchestration, as well as the presence of Stolt's guitar work, which has always been in the vein of Steve Howe and Adrian Belew, as well as the bass playing of Jonas
Reingold (Flower Kings) with Morgan Agren on skins, to provide the music for the lyrical content sung by both Patrik Lundstrum and Aleena.
For these songs, many jam sessions to showcase the musicianship are present, what else would you want from such a phenomenal group of musicians. Obviously opening up with
"Lifetime of a Journey," the overture to
Keyholder, being aggressive with the charm of the whole progressive standard being in the forefront of the whole mix.
"A Complex Work of Art" could have been the title for the album, seeing how many of the cuts here are highly extended with the constant change that is herein; when it comes to the song in question, the complex factor has its place within the fact that we have a ballad with female vocals handled by Aleena, giving sort of an ethereal feel to the whole record, think of Lana Lane's material; but the song does not end there, it becomes an aggressive jam session within this ballad, which eventually leads back to the mellow structure. Most of the cuts, like many of the progressive rock out there, tend to be songs within songs, all following the same jam session within the whole standard rock oriented structure.
"Sonic Perils," "Otherworldly Brights " and
"Across the big Uncertain" are more ballads to grace the whole atmospheric vibe to
Keyholder. The rest of the record with cuts like
"Distant Voices" and
"The Weed of all Mankind," keep the record on its more upbeat vibe.
The record is not dark by any means, but it tends to have the thick atmosphere to it, reminiscent to many 70's prog rock bands such as Yes, ELP, and King Crimson, not to mention that
Queen comes to mind when it comes to the vocal and occasional guitar harmonizing, sort of the classic meets the modern, but by no means is a retro album. Fans of prog and metal alike will have huge respect for this record; although not all that heavy in guitar crunch, yet the vibe is there, and regardless this is one brilliant record, created by none other than two of the forerunners or prog rock, who are not capable of making anything disappointing.
Written by
Hashman Tuesday, December 16, 2003
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