Band:
Helly - drums [1 - 2, 5 - 11, 13 - 17]
Anna Portalupi - bass [track 17]
Luca Pisu - bass [tracks 1 – 2, 7, 11]
Roby Salvai - bass [tracks 8 – 9, 13 – 16]
Giorgio Novarino - bass [crowdfunding bonus track]
Joel Hoekstra - guitar solo 4 [track 2], guitars [tracks 13 – 16]
Sascha Paeth - guitars [tracks 5, 10]
Nita Strauss - guitars [track 17]
Mio Jäger - guitars [tracks 1 – 2, 6, 11]
Toni Urzì - 12-string guitar [track 4, crowdfunding bonus track], guitars [tracks 7 – 9]
Luigi Iamundo- guitars [crowdfunding bonus track]
Douglas R. Docker - keyboards [all tracks], 4- and 12-string bass [tracks 5 – 6, 10], lead and backing vocals [tracks 4 – 5, 8 – 10, 12 – 17], backing vocals [tracks 6 – 7, 11], extreme vocals [track 6], spoken voice [tracks 1, 12, 16]
Anneke Van Giersbergen lead vocals [tracks 13 – 14, 16]
Amanda Somerville - lead vocals [tracks 14 – 16]
Elizabeth Andrews - extreme vocals [tracks 13 – 14, 16]
Valentina Procopio - lead vocals [track 6, 10, 16], backing vocals [tracks 8, 17]
Anna Petracca: -lead vocals [tracks 10, 12, 16], lead and backing vocals [track 7]
Serena Moine - operatic vocals [tracks 2, 10, 12, 16]
Discography:
The Mystic Technocracy - Season I: The Age of Ignorance (2012)
Docker's Guild - The Heisenberg Diaries – Book A: Sounds of Future Past (2016)
Info:
Produced by Douglas R. Docker
Mixed by Neil Kernon, Alberto Macerata and Alessandro Del Vecchio
Mastered by Alberto Macerata
Helly’s drums, Luca Pisu and Roby Salvai’s basses, Toni Urzì’s 12-string guitar recorded by Alberto Macerata at Play!, Bricherasio, Italy
Anna Portalupi’s bass recorded by Anna Portalupi at Ivorytears Music Works, Somma Lombardo, Italy
Giorgio Novarino’s bass recorded by Giorgio Novarino at Nova Rhino Sound Facilities, Turbigo, Italy
Joel Hoekstra’s guitars recorded by Joel Hoekstra, New York, USA
Sascha Paeth’s guitars recorded by Sascha Paeth at GateStudio, Wolfsburg, Germany
Nita Strauss’s guitars recorded by Nita Strauss at Temper Tantrum Studios in Los Angeles, California, USA
Mio Jäger’s guitars recorded by Mio Jäger at Ravetone Studio, Enskededalen, Sweden
Toni Urzì’s electric guitars recorded by Toni Urzì at Tonaz Studio, Luserna San Giovanni, Italy
Luigi Iamundo’s guitars recorded by Luigi Iamundo at Cursed Sanctuary Studio, Verona, Italy
Anneke Van Giersbergen’s vocals recorded by Anneke Van Giersbergen at Little Redhead Studio, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Amanda Somerville’s vocals recorded by Amanda Somerville at Eternia Studios, Reuver, Netherlands
Elizabeth Andrews’s vocals recorded by Elizabeth Andrews in Birkerød, Denmark
Douglas R. Docker’s keyboards, piano, bass and vocals, Anna Petracca, Valentina Procopio and Serena Moine’s vocals, recorded by Douglas R. Docker at the Planet of Freedom Studio, Luserna San Giovanni, Italy
Pietro Sclarandis: Planet of Freedom assistant recording engineer
Helly’s photo by Giulia Favaro
Luca Pisu’s photo by Janthana Rodjakkhen
Roby Salvai’s photo by Marco Costa
Giorgio Novarino’s photo by Annalisa Russo
Joel Hoekstra’s photo by Neil Zlozower
Sascha Paeth’s photo by Martin Huch
Mio Jäger’s photo by Björn Olsson
Toni Urzì’s photo by Giuliano di Bello
Luigi Iamundo’s photo by Annalisa Russo
Douglas R. Docker’s photo by Janthana Rodjakkhen
Anneke van Giersbergen’s photo by Mark Uyl
Amanda Somerville’s photo by Stefan Heilemann
Elizabeth Andrews’s photo by Daniela Dahlien Neumanovà
Anna Petracca’s photo by Sara Miriam
Serena Moine’s photo by Pinny Gaggero
Central spread photo by Janthana Rodjakkhen
Artwork and booklet design by C.A. Beckston / Blekkmark Design Studio
Released 2023-01-28
Reviewed 2023-03-12
Musically it is a lot of classic metal and rock, kind of reminds me a little about the Arjen Lucassen Star One-project, simpler than Ayreon yet adventurous and dramatic. The production is great, the singers do a great job, and we get to hear many accomplished musicians from the metal genre, I think we can count Douglas R. Docker to that category as well. It is a good production, with good variation and depth, and that is certainly needed as the album is 75 minutes long, that is a lot, but I think the guild keeps me listening pretty carefully for most of those minutes. It is an album that has the quality of being easily accessible yet have good depth to have you keep discovering new and interesting aspects every time you listen to it.
I am not sure about the spoken word parts of the opening track Terminus; I think a thing like that is better told in the booklet or in shorter form. It is also a little too obvious that the speaker is doing his very best to hide an accent, and is not quite successful there; it is a detail that is kind of bothering me when listening to the intro. But I can overlook the thing as it gets a lot more dramatic when the story really begins, the second track is a great way to pull the listener in. I guess you listen to what is said in the inro as well, despite the slightly bothering aspects of it. And while on the slight negative, the negatives are just slight, I can also point out that there are some parts I could either do without or at least that would benefit from being sped up or shortened. Still, these are slight setbacks in an otherwise very strong storytelling, and it is also something that most rock- and metal-operas have. Mostly I find myself listening to the adventure and really enjoying it, almost as much as I did with the Heisenberg Diaries in 2016, but those sci-fi songs were a little more amusing than this one.
A very enjoyable album and you just have to enjoy the crazy ambition: “Sto realizzando nove album in un'avventura fantascientifica” what can you say about such an idea? That it is brilliant, meraviglioso as one says it in Docker’s language. You can only tip your hat to the great ambition, and hope that he manages to pull it off, a lot is required so it will be quite a challenge. And after all that we can end with a line pointing out that it is an album well worth checking out, I would say that it is a high likelihood that you will enjoy it, especially if you like the more complex and conceptual style of album.
HHHHHHH
