Richard Andersson's Space Odyssey - The Astral Episode
Regain Records - RR059 - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
As anyone who has been following my reviews in the four years or more that I've been writing for this site will undoubtedly know, instrumentally-focused progressive/power metal is one genre that I have always been left decidedly cold by. I'm the kind of guy who likes to feel that some other impulse was involved behind the scenes of the recording of an album other than the desire to show off how many arpeggiated sweep-picking riffs or impromptu lightning-fast bass solos the band members can pack into a single track. So, it's with some surprise that I report that the second
Space Odyssey album, comprising members gathered by
Time Requiem ivory-tinkley Richard Andersson from various notable progressive metal bands, is actually a fairly rewarding listen.
This can be attributed to the fact that Andersson seems to have chosen to focus his songwriting around the sterling performance of vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson, whose powerful lungs recall Dio circa his
Rainbow-fronting days. So, what we have is a concept-fuelled, synth-led progressive power metal album with a somewhat 80s feel and a more conventional approach to songwriting than your usual proggy wank-fest. That's not to say there isn't an abundance of syncopated soloing (like on the keyboard/guitar duelling in the title track), tight-as-a-gnat's-asshole staccato riffage (like on opener 'Through Dreams and Reality'), or stylistic about-faces that you've come to expect, however. It's just that there are more conventional, accessible elements about the album too - for instance, 'Lord of the Winds' settles down into a determinedly-paced, mid-tempo rock track that recalls
Thunder after a suitably dextrous introductory passage, and 'The Seventh Star Fantasy' is mainly written around a charmingly simplistic central melody and some surprisingly restrained but effectively punchy heavy riffage.
The production was handled by Jonas Reingold (
Midnight Sun,
Reingold,
The Flower Kings, etc.), and is as crystal clear, polished and decidedly inoffensive as pretty much every other recent prog-metal record. Mastering duties were taken care of by Peter In de betou, who has worked with artists as varied as
Meshuggah and
ABBA, so overall the sound is as professional and flawless as one would expect. While I feel a slightly rawer, dirtier mix would have served the more 80s-styled moments of the compositions better, the sound undeniably suits the album, which is an impressively constructed work which should satisfy prog-metal fanatics whilst simultaneously proving to be more accessible to those who prefer some songs buried beneath the solos.
7.5/10
Richard Andersson's Official Website
Regain Records Website
