Eynomia – Sea Of Tears (CD)

Eynomia – Sea Of Tears (CD)

US melodic metal band Eynomia released their debut album “Break Free” in 2018. Seven years later the follow-up is here. The album kicks off with “To The End” which I guess could be placed somewhere between power metal and prog metal. A cool and energetic up-tempo track with killer vocals from Phyllis Rutter. A great quirky guest solo from Michael Abdow. “Jekyll And Hyde” keeps the pace high and something I pointed out when I reviewed the band’s first album, is that I shall admit I’m not a huge fan of power metal, but this band manages to keep it on the right side of power metal, much more interesting and proggy enough to make me a believer and I’m also a big fan of Phyllis who has a raspy quality to her voice that sets her apart from most other female power metal singers, something I really like. Great guitar solo from Chris Bickley in this one, too! “Mask Of Vengeance” takes it down in tempo and adds a heavy melancholic touch that almost reminds me a bit of Evergrey, which I really like. Here they also add the guest vocal talents of Mike Vescera, which gives it a new dimension. I shall however point out I’m however not 100 % happy with the mix of the album. It sounds a bit dense, overpowering and compact and listening to the entire album in one go gets you a bit of auditory fatigue. The title track does offer a short bit of relief with its soft start. “Reborn” is another cool melodic proggy tune with stellar vocals from Phyllis. “The Demon Inside” is another killer track with a heavy vibe with a sort of medieval melodic touch to the chorus. “The One” takes it all in a different more straight-ahead melodic direction which offers a nice new vibe. This one I would actually label power metal with its sing-along chorus, but Eynomia still manage to keep it interesting. “Time Will Come” takes us back into the heavier melancholic sphere. A power number, indeed! The album finishes on an up-tempo note with “Set Back”, a proggy metal number with lots of cool twists and turns and Phyllis getting all bluesy and raw in the mid section – love it!. Conclusion – a splendid album that should attract fans of both melodic metal, power metal and more proggy stuff. Highly recommended!

Country: USA

Label: self-released

Year: 2025

Arctic Void – Entangled (CD)

I shall admit, I’m not a huge fan of the current semi-proggy power metal scene. Most of the bands sound very similar in style and sound. Actually, opening track “On The Padded Wall” didn’t really impress at all, and sounded like the band had been manufactured using the industry standard mould. Yes, they sound great, but not original at all. However, in the second track, “State of War”, things really started happening. A killer track with a dramatic touch, powerful riffing and pounding drums. Great vocals from Olof Lindgren. “Sleeping Under Water” opens with Olof’s vocal partner Anna Samuelsson taking the lead. Another powerful track with nice vocal interplays between Olof and Anna. Great, tasteful guitar solo, too! “Who Am I” starts out really great, but to me chorus is way to “Eurovision song contest”. “The Rising” is another intense and pretty good track, but on this one I’m not really a fan of the mix. It feels a bit out of balance with the vocals and keyboards one layer above the compact and slightly muddy guitar, bass and drum package. “Labyrinth” is another track I’m a bit on the fence about. On one hand I do like the powerful chugging guitars, but I’m not really a fan of the gothy vocals. “Obsession” is a straight ahead powerful track with nice duets between Olof and Anna. They do remind me of Sonata Arctica mixed with Amaranthe (without the growls) at times. “A Blink Of An Eye” is another straight ahead melodic power metal offering with chugging guitars, soaring keyboards and nice vocal interplays. “Ghosts Are Calling” also caught my attention, despite the, at times, gothy vocals. It has some cool guitar patterns and a nice arrangement. Good vocal melodies, without being too cheesy. Great guitar solo, again. Nice one! Gothenburg based Arctic Void leave off with “Blackwood”, where, unlike my previous criticism, the vocals are almost a tad too low in the mix. The wall of guitars sounds a bit like what you’d hear from a band like Soilwork. I am a bit on the fence about this album. It has some really great highlights, but at times it feels a bit generic. Still, top quality performances all around!

Janne Stark

Year: 2015

Country: Sweden

Label: Power Prog

OPETH - Heritage (CD+DVD)

I just love the way Opeth have developed. I didn’t care for their old death metal records, but did felt they had a lot of great potential musically. Then, when things started going towards the more progressive side I started listening. Deliverance, I think was the album that made me really listen. After this they have just started growing album by album. The last one, Watershed, as as close to perfect as they had ever come in my book. Now, Heritage is here, and they have dropped the growling altogether, the music is as intricate as ever and there are so many moods and feelings floating around on this album it would make even Ingemar Bergman jealous. The album starts off with a soft piano piece that could have been written by Jan Johansson back in the seventies. Soft, tender and lovely. The piano is played by guest musician Joakim Svalberg. They move into the multi-layered The Devil’s Orchard, which touches on fusion, jazz, but still rests on a heavy, slightly dissonant, proggy/symphonic foundation which brings it forward without stopping. I Feel The Dark starts off softly with just acoustic guitar and vocals, adding piano, mellotron and later on drums and electric guitar, but still not in an overpowering way, not until halfway through when the pandemonium enters. This is definitely an album you just don’t put on and wash the dishes to. It’s quite demanding and challenging, and I really like that! This is an album that gives me something new each time I listen to it. It’s all so well thought out, each part and instrument has a meaning. Nothing is random. What I also like is that the album goes though so many different moods and styles, from the aforementioned piano piece, to fast paced prog metal in Slither (recorded in memory of Ronnie James Dio), to the soft and gentle acoustics in Häxprocess and Famine, where Björn J:son Lindh adds his flute magic against a pretty heavy backing. The Lines In My Hand shows another different, very melodic side, still highly progressive and odd rhythmic, but with nice melodic harmony vocals. This is in my opinion the band’s strongest effort so far, the most challenging, but also the most rewarding. Finally, I must give credit to the cool 3D cover, which really adds an extra dimension, plus the bonus-DVD containing the 5.1 surround mix, bonus tracks and a documentary.

Janne Stark
Label: Roadrunner
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden

EVERGREY - Glorious Collision (CD)

With a new line-up and a new label Göteborg melancholy progsters Evergrey return in glory. Well, I’m not just trying to be witty, it IS a really great album! Evergrey sure have had their dark moments, and that melancholy, slightly dark touch has become their trademark. With Glorious Collision they of course haven’t adopted any streaks of Monty Python humour or any major chords for that matter. However, the album does feel a bit more uplifting. New guitarist Marcus Jidell (Royal Hunt/The Ring) has added a bit more guitar harmonies, which feels refreshing, at least I haven’t really noticed them in the past in the same way. I must say, despite 3/5 of the band being new guys, only Tom Englund and keyboardist Rikard Zander remain from the previous album, it sounds very Evergrey.Old fans will not be disappointed. The new people them who are they? Guitars are handled by the aforementioned Marcus Jidell, bass is now played by former Mind’s Eye/Therion bassist Johann Niemann and the drums by Hannes van Dahl. From the first note you feel like this bunch has been playing together for years. It’s solid and it glues really well together. The song material is quite varied going to a variety of places, both in moods and tempos, even though the lower mid-tempo region still prevails. I’m glad to hear some more up-tempo stuff such as Free and Restoring The Loss, the cool balladry in songs like The Phantom Letters, The Disease… and album closer …And The Distance, which takes us from a really soft intro to a heavy chugging finale. I also really love the heavy riff-oriented stuff like I’m Drowning Alone. No weak spots as far as I can hear. A solid, consistent effort which again confirms Evergrey’s high position on the prog-oriented metal map.
Janne Stark
Label: SPV
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.evergrey.net/

DREAMCATCHER - Souldesign (CD)

Man, it was actually a while since I heard any new interesting prog metal bands with the classic old Queensryche touch, but Dreamcatcher was a really refreshing acquaintance with a nod to the old school! The guys and girl however do look quite young. I must say this is a really classy production, both sound-wise and visually, for being a private release. This is something I would expect to see on a label like AFM or Massacre. Dreamcatcher fall in somewhere between bands like Symphony X, Andromeda and old school Queensryche, but with a strong touch of modern melodic bands like Within Temptation and Nightwish. The big difference being that Dreamcatcher are equipped with male singer Lucas Jackson, who reminds me a bit of Geoff Tate (back when he could actually sing well) and Midnight (R.I.P). What also makes me think of these bands are the way the keyboards are used, to create an ambient wall of sound more than the Rudess, Johansson style twiddling. The production is quite big and rich, where my only complaint would be the heavily trigged drums (which has more to do with me being an old school analogue fart). The songs are really good, well-written and flawlessly performed without feeling too technical or pretentious. This is a really good album I must say! Highly recommended for prog metal fans!
Janne Stark
Country: UK
Label: Private
Link: www.dreamcatcherofficial.com 

DARKWATER - Where Stories End (CD)

After having been a big fan of progressive metal for many years with bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Mind’s Eye, Sun Caged etc, I kinda lost interest in the genre a couple of years ago. It started feeling a bit like bands were complicated just for the sake of it. I started lacking the melody and groove. Some CDs attracted me, but unfortunately not that many. I’ve slowly started getting back in the prog groove again and Darkwater, who now releases their second effort, is one of the bands that don’t overcomplicate things just because they can. The band also has a very strong singer in Henrik Båth, which sets them apart from some other bands (I’m one of the people who get incredibly tired of James LaBrie in the long run). Darkwater reminds me a bit of Swedish colleagues Andromeda, but where Andromeda took the hard and less melodic route on their latest album, Darkwater have produced a more accessible platter in “Where Stories End”. A lot of things happen in the songs, but it feels like they are there for a reason. The songs are also created for a singer to sing, not just a complex musical pattern where the singer has to go through hell and high water to find where he can fit some vocal melodies into strange brew. Thus this is not just music for musicians, but an album you can enjoy as a regular fan of melodic metal. A great bunch of musicians, all of them, none mentioned none forgotten. Strong and interesting song material, too makes this a really great album indeed. Fredrik Nordström, Studio Fredman, has previously proven his abilities as sound engineer with multiple bands, not forgetting his own creation Dream Evil. He does a mighty fine job here as well, creating a powerful sound landscape with massive guitars, yet not overpowering the keyboards and vocals. Highly recommended. Ok, this album was released in November last year, but it does deserve being reviewed. A good whiskey does not get old.
Janne Stark
Label: Ulterium
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.darkwater.se/