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Beautiful and moving Progressive Metal.-
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| Pagan's Mind: Heavenly Ecstasy |
Progressive Metal
SPV Records
May 31st, 2011
- Contact - 0:49
- Eyes of Fire - 5:49
- Intermission - 5:42
- Into the Aftermath - 5:22
- Walk Away in Silence - 5:09
- Revelation to the End - 8:32
- Follow Your War - 5:19
- Live Your Life Like a Dream - 5:55
- The Master's Voice - 5:14
- When Angels Unite - 2:04
- Never Walk Alone - 6:09
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| Review Information |
Release length: 56:05
Review posted on May 26, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 9/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Infinity Divine (2000) • Celestial Entrance (2002) • Infinity Divine 2004 (2004) • Enigmatic : Calling (2005) • God's Equation (2007)
Heavenly Ecstasy (2011)
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| Single(s): |
Helter fra Telemark (2011)
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| Compilation(s): |
Promotional : Disc 2006 (2006)
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| DVD(s): |
Enigmatic Videos 2005 (2005) • Live Equation (2009)
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| Review |
Pagan's Mind is more of a melodic Progressive Metal act, or at least that is what some of the promotional material the label used to promote them. The group has been in existence for a good while now, with their debut full-length being issued back in 2000. Eleven years later, we are given the group's sixth full-length recording, Heavenly Ecstasy, finding a new home with SPV Records. But, given their previous effort's poor critical reception, can Heavenly Ecstasy bounce the band back from God's Equation?
The music on Heavenly Ecstasy is essentially described by the title. The album's material ranges from a very beautiful sound with a strong atmosphere, though not afraid to get a little heavier with a muddier sound int he distortion to the guitar. This becomes apparently right at the start of the release with the song "Eyes of Fire". The lighter, airy atmosphere of the song mixes well with the more beautiful sound the band performs, but around the half-way point the guitars become heavier with a muddier, deeper distortion to usher in a more aggressive sound that segways in and out of a great guitar solo, then back to the more "heavenly" music of the track. This sets up the mood of the album well since the introduction track, "Contact" is actually just an introduction to the first song and seems to be cut into it's own song for no real reason. But, with that said, the two work well to wrap the listener up with beautiful yet aggressive music that shifts just enough to remain solid Progressive music full of catchy harmonies and melodic hooks, and though most bands put their top notch material at the start, this is far from the best that the group has to offer on this effort.
Each track on here will easily hook the listener right from the start for various reasons. While the lighter and more beautiful vibe of the material is well worth pay attention to, leading to fantastic catchy and moving songs like "Intermission", there's no denying some of the heavier material present on this recording doesn't make as big an impact. "Into the Aftermath" becomes the first genuinely heavy song from start to finish, with exclusion to a more melodic chorus that feels crystal-like in a very "epic" science-fiction manner thanks to the keyboards and stylish production quality. The more technical guitars on the song also stand out, and the solo is awe-inspiring, really giving this track a strong presence to instantly make it a crowd favorite at live shows since, on the CD alone, it makes the listener want to get up and just start applauding as it continues to build up for that guitar solo, letting it blow you away in the most spellbinding manner. There's also the track "Live Your Life Like a Dream", which takes on a more Progressive Rock approach to the music and makes for a nice change of pace. The more uplifting Rock sound works well with the often beautiful tracks the adorn the album and has a strong performance from the band in general. The guitar solo is a bit of a let down though, as the song slows down even more against some rather open-sounding drums, but the solo eventually does pick up with a strong echo effect on it to make it feel more suiting to the general flow of the song, and eventually building up to the pace you immediately hope the solo will stick to, even though it shifts into a keyboard solo to do so instead of a guitar solo. While the keyboard solo is pretty good, it all just feels like a missed opportunity for the band.
But that's the only time the band seems to miss the mark within a song. As far as the entire song goes, the only time the band doesn't really seem to really drive the music home with the listener is the song "Revelation to the End". The guitar solo on the track is well executed, and again very impressive, though not really awe-inspiring. The music itself though isn't all that fantastic. The bass really seems to take over from the guitars, there's no real atmosphere, and many times through the eight and a half minute song it just feels like the song is being drawn out with no real lasting appeal to make the listener continue to pay attention. Granted the more conceptual element of the song is interesting, but the music just doesn't convey it at all times, even though the chorus is perhaps one of the most impressive performances from the band on the entire recording, especially from the vocalist who really pushes to belt out some higher notes with a great deal of strength, and it really shines on this track. There's also the song "When Angels Unite", which sounds very poppish, though clearly aimed more as a ballad. The song is a piano and vocals only piece, and it does have some impressive vocal work against some really majestic music, but the song is barely over two minutes long and could have been a little longer if the band could have built on it a little more to make it stronger. Despite the track actually ending, it feels like more of an introduction to "Never Walk Alone", as the song does feature similar keyboards, and an atmosphere that is pretty close to the one the keyboards gave off in "When Angels Unite".
Does Pagan's Mind make up for God's Equation? The answer is a resounding yes. With only a few gripes and one song not pulling it's weight, Heavenly Ecstasy is a strong, emotionally driven melodic Progressive Metal release that shows off the best of the band, as well as the style itself. Even when the band becomes more aggressive, the talent of the members shines through with varying vocals that gain more of an edge, fantastic technical guitar work and solos, and some well performed keyboard solos that go along with it, all coupled with well paced drumming that is often simpler, but keeps the pace nicely and still manages to bring in an additional layer to the already rich music. If you're looking for something that is powerful and not really like many others in the Progressive field, then Heavenly Ecstasy by Pagan's Mind is a great place to start looking.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
SPV Records
via Freeman Promotions.
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