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Pagan's Mind - Enigmatic: Calling


*
=Staff's pick

The Celestine Prophecy
Enigmatic Mission*
Supremacy, Our Kind
Entrance To Infinity
Coming Home
Celestial Calling
Taken
Resurrection (Back In Time)*
Appearance
Search For Life
New World Order*


Genre Progressive Metal
Nils K. Rue
Vocals
Tracks 11
Jörn Viggo Lofstad
Guitar
Runningtime 66 Min.
-
Guitar
Label LMP Music
Steinar Krokmo
Bass
Release 09 May 2005
Stian Kristoffersen
Drums
Country Norway
Ronny Tegner
Keyboards
Similar artists Symphony X, Dream Theater, Conception

Pagan's Mind is starting to build a great reputation for themselves and when it comes to Norwegian progressive metal they are today sole masters of the throne. The competition might not be the toughest but in my opinion you have to go back in time all the way to Conception to see them beaten. They follow up the style of their last album with melodic as well as progressive metal where bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X are what comes closest, and also a hint of power metal can be found among the many layers in their complex music.

Pagan's Mind of today might sound the same as before, but you can also clearly hear that they have progressed both as a band as musicians. They are taking wider turns with their music and they are bringing you with them in musical fieldtrips more complex than earlier, they also appear to sound much tighter as a band now. And, what also seems to be the case with every band that releases new stuff this year, they are heavier. When a new album is released you almost always hear in promotional talk that the new album is the heaviest album the band ever has done, and that is not always how it sounds when you finally get to hear it, but with Pagan's Mind you can certainly say that Enigmatic: Calling is their heaviest album up to date.

The music is bolder and better performed but what I miss compared with Celestial Entrance is songs that hold, and then it should be known that the songs on the just mentioned album weren't the best either. There are no shred of doubts that Pagan's Mind are great musicians, but what I miss are songs. Ok, there are ten of them on the album but none that is really outstanding. Partly there are things in each and every song that is great but in the whole I find a big lack in the song writing department, like there is no real structure. Perhaps I am too restrained of conservative thinking but they have a long way to go before they can match up with Dream Theater that without a doubt is their biggest source of inspiration.

At the same time that this album is heavier it is also softer at parts, meaning that Pagan's Mind is taking wider turns with their music than what they have done earlier, something that I find to be a very healthy development for the band. On Celestial Entrance you had the track Prophecy Of Pleiades that was partly very close with Learning To Live by Dream Theater, and when it gets close once again here with the track Celestial Calling I start to think if this is done intentionally? Two songs on different albums that both has partly very strong similarities to Learning To Live, are the paying homage or ripping off? I let you be the judge.

This album makes me feel divided since it contains some great melodic parts and musical fieldtrips that is too die for. Vocals, guitars, bass, drums and keyboard are all done so damn great and that is one of their strengths - that they have members that all are very talented in their areas and that they come out as tight as they do. The melodic breaks and the harmonies with guitar and keyboard comes in perfectly as well the melodic vocal lines, but still this album wont stick with me. It feels like they are stacking parts on top of each other that each sound great but when put together it does not work as a whole. And that is their weakness: make the songs work.

See also review of: Celestial Entrance

Production
Vocals
Compositions

9

7

6

 
Summary



6 chalices of 10 - Thomas

Related links:

www.pagansmind.com