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Artist: Vanden Plas |
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Well
one of the most anticipated albums of the Prog Metal genre is 'The
Seraphic Clockwork' by Germany’s Vanden Plas. The album really highlights the bands impact on the
genre. This is a concept album that
after four years in hiatus, will once again bring the name of Vanden Plas
to the masses once more.
The
concept behind the album is one that chronicles a journey in a place and
time from 16th century Rome to Jerusalem in the year 33 A.D.
The protagonist, after an apocalyptic vision, has come under the spell
of an Old Testament prophecy and must travel back through the centuries
to face his God-given destiny. “It’s about being unable to escape
fate”, explains singer Andy Kuntz. The
album opens up with ‘Frequency’,
a real crushing opening assault that lays down a real solid foundation
for the rest of the album, coming in at just over six minutes long this
opening barrage highlights not only the fine vocal talent that is Andy
Kuntz, but also the superb guitar work of Stephan Lill, and the faultless
backbeat provided by Torsten Reichert (bass) and Andreas Lill (drums),
with the binding agent being Günter Werno's excellent keyboards. The
album continues it’s epic path with ‘Holes In The Sky’, again an
excellent mix of Progressive elements and grinding Heavy Metal. This
time the keys of Werno get this one underway in emphatic style before
Kuntz unleashes another great vocal, which is filled with power and
grace in equal measures, with the guitars and keyboards taking equal
billing on the rest of the track. Powerful riffs and symphonic keys,
great musicianship that just rocks big style. The
album takes a step away from the all out Prog Metal and takes a more
gentile refrain with the intro of ‘Scar Of An Angel’, but fear not
this is only a short reprise as it's all guns blazing power infused Prog
Metal at its finest. There is a definite theatrical air to this one,
almost film score in its nature. This
is again brought into the mix with one of my favourites off the album
the excellent ‘Sound Of Blood’, again power driven guitar licks
interwoven with graceful keyboards, all built upon that massive massive
rhythm section. The
band really go all out with the epic tunes as we get four in a row, all
exceeding the eight minute mark, with one even reaching twelve minutes
plus but more about that track in time. The
first of the epics is ‘The Final Murder’, in true Prog Metal tradition
this one builds up from humble beginnings with just an acoustic guitar
and vocal, before gradually building into a crescendo of fiery guitars
and massive almost military drums and thumping bass lines, all integrated
with great keyboards. A real gem that carries you away on a
multi-layered musical magic carpet ride, you just don’t what to end. Next
up on the epic front is the track ‘Quicksilver’, again a giant of a
track with its almost serine intro and lingering melodies, a real
multifaceted opus that just oozes class. Another outstanding track is
the nine minute plus ‘Rush Of Silence’, again a very theatrical slice
of Prog Metal starting off with some grinding guitar work courtesy of
Lill and a pounding bass and drum assault, before Kuntz takes
up the mike and unleashes another mighty vocal, but track of the album
undoubtedly has to be ‘On My Way To Jerusalem’. Coming in at just
under thirteen minutes, this is almost an album in itself. A joyous
masterpiece and the highlight of the album by far. With
'On My Way To Jerusalem' over, the album could have easily be ended there
and no one would had been disappointed, but the album does boast the
bonus track ‘Eleyson’, a classy live piece that fills the very soul,
with Kuntz delivering an almost perfect vocal performance. This is a
real taste of how the band can perform in the live arena. There are
many concept albums around today but not many reach the dizzy heights of
'The Seraphic Clockwork', a real album for the modern Prog Metal fan and
an album worth the four year wait for sure. |
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| Tracklisting:
1. Frequency |
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