Assignment
Inside of the Machine

One thing that I really hate is when bands are being oversold, being attributed skills and qualities way out of their league and also when reviewers are buying the hype created by skilled promotors. I guess it is their (the promotors) work to sell their bands as it is our work as reviewers to see through the words and make our own opinion. I was actually a bit irritated when reading the press info after having given this album fifteen spins in my iPod, “The new album is a conceptual masterpiece including ROBIN BECK, MICHAEL BORMANN (ex-Jaded Heart, Bonfire), MATS LEVEN (ex-Malmsteen, Addagio), & CARSTEN KAISER (ex-Angel Dust) on vocals.” The quoted text is copy-pasted from the press info and it gets worse: “Already combining various influences like Queensryche & Fates Warning, but also adding segments in the styles of Ayreon or early Pain of Salvation. Fans can expect hard- edged riffs, catchy hooks, & unexpected turnovers in more than 70 minutes running time & special guest appereance of Bernie Versailles (Redemption) on lead guitar.” Okay, the names are correct but masterpiece and comparing with the grandest names in the genre, you have to be able to deliver to make that seem reasonable as it just looks silly otherwise.

Long first paragraph there, the genre is a new one for me: Art Metal. It is supposed to be something progressive which it isn’t, it sounds more like Avantasia or any other power metal band with some symphonic of keyboardic undertones. Think Metalium, Majesty, Manowar or something like that but with an operatic thing as they have four singers. Good singers at that. Decently produced but over 70 minutes with minimal variation is a bit of a handful for someone who according to Urban Breed sources has ADD, it is too long. And it is nothing unique in any regard. This is going to be a hard sell to morph into something along the lines of the press info.

It is a decent album, not a very good one but it works alright to listen to. I just think that they try to sell it with too grande words and also that the band is trying to hard. I heard a good thing in a song once, it was “simplify, demystify”, about how to make music, it is a universal truth in whatever you do. The best progressive metal adheres to this and also the best writing and movies, a story and idea can be complex but there is something about too complex things, they tend to turn dull and anonymous. This album feels very anonymous in the regard that more than fifteen playthroughs still can’t make me recall any of the songs from this album. It is just ran through and forgotten.

A reviewer said that this band was level with Dream Theater and called this album a Masterpiece Which is a complete a load of rubbish. Sold on the hype, so I guess they sell the album well to some. It is a decently made album but it is also way too dull to really stand out in any kind of competition as this is about as average as it gets. Well made, decent melodies but in the end a rather forgetful album that I award out most used rating which I guess is reserved for average.

HHHHHHH