Oh, a mixture of progressive metal and jazz, all instrumental... I really do not enjoy listening to jazz. The style has been mixed with metal music for a long time. Here, jazz isn't on a very big part. Even though this band, who formed back in 2001, call themselves as progressive jazz metal band, I can easily get into their sound. Jazz or not...

Transparent lead guitars remind me of Joe Satriani's ('Nebula' is one very clear example of this), and maybe a bit of Steve Vai's, so there are a lot of catchy melodies to listen to. There's also Pestilence's 'Spheres' era (1993) madness to be heard; just try 'Sirius'. Then again, guitars on 'Europa' remind of Accept's Wolf Hoffmann, who's known of his classical music renditions on guitar. Rhythm guitars are solid and rather varied; from staccato riffing to open-stringed ones, from heavier metal style to lighter vibes. Benjamin Schwenen is the name of the guitar player. As the band is a trio, there's quite a bit of overlapping guitar tracks.

The rhythm section is something really tight. While the album's production gives everything out nicely, it is also punchy. The tempos alternate a lot, and polyrhythmic playing isn't a stranger here. A lot of small tricks from the drummer Thorsten Harnitz. The bass guitar by Sebastian Hoffman is both a part of the backbone, but also used as an instrumental to conjure melodies. Joined by well-known guests from progressive metal world, such as fretless bass god Steve DiGiogio (Sadus, Testament, ex-Death etc.), drum sorcerer Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, Blotted Science, ex-Obscura etc.) and fretless guitar wizard Tom Geldschläger (Fountainhead, ex-Obscura), this covers both technical-as-heck and easy listening.

Music-wise, this album offers both technical and catchy compositions. This trio are very skilled musicians. Still, I do not get that "academy of music" feel in performances. Songwriting is pretty much solid. And they definitely do not need vocal melodies. The atmosphere on the album isn't very "out of Earth", sadly. Personally, being a sci-fi freak, I've heard many albums with much better spatial mood, so to speak. Not even many electronic music parts/bits help the mood reach those celestial bodies this album is about (mostly stars). However, I get feeling of some game/computer music for sure. Then again, the moods fluctuate from sunny (no pun intended) to dark, from dramatic to peculiar. The compositions are fluid for a big part.

This album was surprisingly easy to get. Or maybe it is so interesting, that it got under my skin pretty easily. No matter which way, this should be inspected by those who love (instrumental) progressive metal. Some "instant hits" are the title track, manic trumpet-driven 'Bellatrix', laid-back 'Nebula' and most metal piece 'Sirius'. At best, this is magic! However, while the band probably did their best to add varying songs, this isn't an easy entirety to listen to; some songs simply get a bit lost among the catchier ones. The CD version is told to contain thorough booklet notes and clever graphics design, though. Anyway, a very interesting album that offers a lot to listen to.

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
03/30/2016 18:55