1. THE FORCES
OF NATURE [6.29]
A crushing riff combined with some melodic keyboard work opens this track to great effect.
This sound is reminiscent of 'Awake' era Dream Theater until John West's vocals enter. His
voice is a stellar mix of James LaBrie, Ronnie Dio and a little Graham Bonnet, his voice
soars, moans, weeps and yells throughout this song and adds a super melodic quality to the
track. This track goes through several moods before an intense solo that sees superb solo
trade-offs between Roger and Vitalij that are pure Romeo/Pinnela and Malmsteen/Johansson.
The keyboard is generally the dominant instrument in the solo sections throughout this
album and every break is stunning [this guy is the Yngwie of the keyboard realm]. A great
track that sets the album up well; its not as progressive as a lot of the tracks but still
a great song.
2. RIDE LIKE THE WIND [5.10]
The intro could quite easily be an outake track from Symphony X's 'Twilight In Olympus'
album. A majestic orchestral motif collides with a descending chord pattern before
launching into a fast riff that is great. The solo sees John West sounding very similar to
Graham Bonnet on Alcatrazz's debut album - good stuff. The title sums up the track easily,
you get the impression of being flown through the sky at breakneck speed - exhilarating
stuff. The solo from Roger is awesome with some very fast guitar passages. A nice piano
and bass breakdown gives you a breather from this intense track before being thrown into
the powerful verse and riff once again.
3. BEHIND YOUR EYES [7.24]
This track has an almost Savatage feel to it, very grandiose and eerie. A haunting piano
figure sets the scene while power chords add more power to the package. 'So you think you
know frustration, And the hands of time are reaching for you. Final situation, Tell me
what are you going to do to save yourself?'. The lyrics on this track are about a woman
that tries to pretend everything is okay, while everyone else can see by looking in her
eyes all is not well - 'Behind Your Eyes, Mirrors of gloom reflecting the light'. The
tempo is relatively mid paced and the track has a nice flow about it. The solos are very
classical, with spiralling arpeggios from both keyboard and guitars, the solo builds in
intensity very well before an amazing keyboard solo from Vitalij comes flying at you. This
track is simply superb.
4. THE TRUTH [5.00]
An extremely neo-classical track ala 'Anguish and Fear' [YJM] and 'Out Of The Ashes' [Sym
X]. The drumming from ex Malmsteen man Shane Gaalaas is ultra tight with double bass drum
work motoring the whole track on. The solo's again are exceptionally good.
5. TALL SHIPS [6.07]
This is one of the epics of the album. It is also a very effective power ballad. Some
great emotional mid tempo instrumentation opens the track before it breaks down for the
soulful verse where John West's vocals really shine. The whole track is stunning with
superlative performances all around. The great thing about Artension is they know when to
use light and shade and don't throw in unnecessary warp speed passages as some progressive
bands tend to. The main guitar solo this time is played by the extremely underrated
Testament guitarist James Murphy and a great melodic thing it is, adding yet more soul and
emotion to the track. One of the main highlights of the album.
6. SHAPE SHIFTER [6.15]
Apocalyptic sounds herald the start of the track, Vitalij plays some menacing keyboard
fanfares before a very eastern riff enters [think Sym X's 'Pharaoh' or Yng's 'Pyramid Of
Cheops']. The vocals are double tracked creating some nice tension as the two voices
intertwine. The tempo is slow and as a result the track has a Sabbath feel to it. John
West's voice has touches of Glenn Hughes golden lungs here. The solos are full of Egyptian
promise and suit the track to a tee. This is one of the weaker tracks on the album, but
the fact that it is still a strong track only goes to highlight the quality of the CD.
7. WILD TRIP [3.42]
Another neo-classical style track, this time its an instrumental that is superb. The whole
band is in perfect synch and each instrument has its own little solo highlighting the
proficiency each member has on their instrument. However you'd expect nothing less really
from a band on the 'Shrapnel' label. This track is indeed a 'Wild Trip'.
8. GUARDIAN OF THE HUNT [7.04]
Another song of 'epic' proportions. The track starts of slow and menacing, John sings over
simple sustained chords on the keyboard before things get grander for the pre chorus and
chorus. This is another moody track, again great use of light and shade. There is some
great classical piano work from Vitalij before a double tracked harmony guitar solo
changes the direction of the track somewhat, Roger Staffelbach's playing is super melodic
with beautiful and dynamic phrasing, the sustained notes just seem to sing forever. This
track is another of the more straightforward type, and is another main highlight. The end
of the track sees some nice use of different instrument sounds from Vitalij.
9. LOST HORIZON [7.09]
This track sees Artension's talent for odd time signatures right at the forefront, the
parts still gel together very well and you never get the impression of haphazardly placed
progressions. The chorus is very majestic with a swirling melody line. At places each
instrument seems to play in counterpoint to each other which sounds truly impressive. The
middle section of the song sees some superb prog noodlings, at times reminiscent of Dream
Theater's 'Metropolis pt.1' mixed with Sym X's 'Smoke & Mirrors', yet it still has a
quality that is definitely of Artension's making. The outro keyboard solo sees a synth
sound reminiscent of that Kevin Moore used throughout DT's 'Awake', however Vitalij is
much more talented than the ex DT member. Another stunning track
10. YOU ARE MY HEART [ODE TO AUTUMN] [2.47]
The closing track is a ballad that is just Vitalij and John, again it is reminiscent of
Dream Theater's, this time 'Wait For Sleep', but not as good and in all honesty doesn't do
anything for the album and is a bit of a weak way to end it. A disappointing end to an
otherwise magnificent album. |
