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When I got hold of this release the
original cover design immediately caught my eye. Almost
automatically I reached for the accompanying biography because I
wanted to know all about this new band. Apparently it concerns the
debut album of an upcoming Dutch progmetal band. As is often the
case with this kind of bands the music tends to be OK but the
singing seems to be the weakest link. I’m afraid to say this time
isn’t any different. Good musicianship, good playing throughout and
interesting time signatures but a voice which sadly doesn’t fit the
bill. For sure this guy has listened to a lot of metal albums and
I’m convinced his wardrobe only consists of black T-shirts but his
contribution sadly works wrongly. Also on the opening track ‘World
of confusion’, Ron Mozer’s synths are mixed too far away putting all
of the emphasis on Sylvester Vogelenzang de Jong’s guitars (for sure
a name to make it big in showbusiness !). I will gladly stress the
fact that from a composition point of view this Dutch band delivers
a surprisingly good album but the vocal department sadly doesn’t
deliver the goods equally as good as the rest of the
instrumentation. I know everyone who contributes towards an album
has always the best intentions at heart but here Raymond Jansen has
to admit that he ‘yells’ instead of singing whilst most of the times
his phrasing and accents are wrongly placed. I simply can’t believe
that a band works together so well towards reaching a good result
and then passes quickly over such a vital part of the end product.
No one should be afraid to have ‘honest’ discussions with every
member of whatever band as long as these discussions have one thing
in common : ‘aiming for a better end result !’ Just listen closely
to the singing during ‘The script’ where practically every single
sentence has at least one major mistake what phrasing and accents is
concerned and I rest my case.
It’s not honest to go on and on about
the singing jeopardising the rest of the band because the other guys
certainly deliver a good job whether it’s modest piano parts or
intense guitarsolo’s. The interaction between guitar and organ
during the intro for ‘Hero for one day’ works very well. Pitty the
atmosphere changes completely after that memorable introduction.
‘Watching over you’ is a wonderful ballad which includes real cello
(that’s cello and not chello as mentioned in the booklet guys !).
Again it’s the singing which brings the level down to ground zero
because from a musical perspective things really do sound very well
indeed. It’s mainly the understanding between guitarist and keyboard
player which gives the trademark for this band whilst I should also
underline the splendid bass/drums build up. At times, like during
the intro for ‘A moment of insanity’, I detect some Bach elements in
Sylvester Vogelenzang de Jong’s guitar playing whilst the song
itself contains some Everon influences. The strings deliver a very
strong melody.
As happened in the past with the band
Andromeda I guess the band’s quest for a good singer should start
now so that for their next album they finally get the line-up
together they really merit because I’m confident that Ulysses has
enough talent to really make a big impression one day. But not as
long as Raymond Jansen is part of the band. Sorry Ray but the truth
has to be said ! As an all instrumental album this would’ve been a
damned good album. As things are now I’m afraid it will be depicted
as just another debut album whilst pure enjoyment has switched to
become downright torture ! |
