Since the release of the band’s Slave To The Mind album, more input has gone in the creation of the follow-up, fine tuning the already astounding collaboration. In order to enhance the sound, new keyboard player Jörg Springub stepped in in order to deliver extra layers of keys, backing the fierce guitar riffs. Having toured as support to Virgin Steele and Angra, the band has certainly evolved into one of the leading German prog-metal outfits, stepping into the footsteps of Vanden Plas and Ivanhoe. Maybe the main negative point about the new release has to be the production, which was done by the band themselves. Especially where the sound of the drums is concerned, it lacks a professional end result. Sometimes certain bands decide to record the drums in a different studio altogether because they know how important that sound is within the context of the entire album. Here the sound is rather thin and muddy, which doesn’t do the rest of the music any justice. That doesn’t mean you won’t like this release, as there’s plenty to enjoy, but I simply mean this release could have taken the band one step further on the ladder of recognition, which sadly it will have to postpone. Hopefully though the band will see the importance of this vital element and use an outside producer for their next output. At certain times, it’s like listening to dual guitars, such as during “Incognito,” where snippets of Wishbone Ash filter through. The lush keyboards introduce the symphonic nature of the arrangement, whilst drums and vocals concentrate on the pure rock’n roll element in the music. The same balance is also apparent during “Just A Dream,” sporting a nice guitar solo from Marco. Sadly, towards the end the already mentioned "muddy" sound of the drums are very distinctive, almost sounding over-modulated in the heavy parts. When the powerful sound of the drums dim, it does the entire arrangement a lot of good, enabling every instrument to shine in more detail, such as in the middle section of “The Stranger Within,” which has guitar and bass back-to-back, making way for yet another stunning solo. Towards the end some acoustic trimmings are added adding to the diversity of this track. “Logan 5” is the perfect example of how a trillion different atmospheres can fit into one song. Uptempo and laidback, guitar and keys go hand in hand in order to deliver a stunning instrumental that will please the most demanding prog-metal fans. As the album goes on, the material becomes more mature, more daring, in respect of merging different approaches, such as in “Open To Attack,” which has both guitars battling it out, accompanied by double bass drum. The rest of the material isn’t bad, but won’t keep me up all night, that’s for sure! The first pressing of the album (just how many units are we talking about here?) also sports the Rush cover “Distant Early Warning." You have to get used to hearing this song without the typical high pitched voice of Geddy Lee! And Andres Tegeler isn’t Neil Peart either, so instead of the unique Rush combination, the result here is rather bland. One In A Million certainly doesn’t live up to its title. It would have been more appropriate to call it One In Every Dozen! Reviewed by: John ‘Bo Bo’ Bollenberg |
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