I will not deny it; A.C.T has been one of
my all-time favorite melodic prog-bands ever since their debut found its way
to my ears. The playfulness, quirky melodies, extremely tight and skillful
musicianship and clever arrangements totally blew me away… album after album!
It was a little worrying that the 2006 album was entitled “Silence”, and it was
actually taken quite literally. It all went quiet after this. Promises and
hints of a new album came and went. Now, FINALLY, the band has again
resurfaced, and with this, I’m happy to say, releasing probably their best
album to date. It’s still the same band, same sound and same quirky songs, but
they have still evolved. It feels like they have become a bit heavier in the
guitar department in some places, but they still mix this heaviness with Queen
meets City Boy style pop melodies. I’m still amazed how a band can succeed in
making such intricate and complicated songs sound so playful and easy
accessible! There are so many elements to this album it’s just impossible to
mention them all. It’s like the best of melodic prog rock assembled into one
album and melted together into one nice slice of pie. This is a concept album.
Well, honestly, when other bands make concept albums (except Rush) they more or
less fall flat because they try too much and it just becomes too pretentious.
Well, this is normal A.C.T territory, so no difference here, besides the songs
link together nicely. It’s actually quite hard to hear when one song ends and
another begins since they fit so perfectly together and because the songs in
general have so many variations and tempo changes. It’s really no use getting
into specific songs and song titles. I simply can’t pick any favorites. It’s
all just one big beautiful organized mess! You’ve done it again, boys, better
than ever!!
Janne Stark
Label: self-released/Marquee (Japan)
Year: 2014
Country: Sweden
Link: www.facebook.com/acttheband
Interesting! Have to check it out!
ReplyDelete