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Chain was formed in 1994 and existed for one year. Then the band
broke up. After 8 years Henning Pauly re-discovered the old material
on tapes recorded during a rehearsal and decided to produce the
album in LA where he lives. In 2003 the album that should have been
made 9 years earlier was finished and is now available at
Progrock Records. It is a concept album telling the history of
evolutionary time on our planet from a time when there was no life
on earth until a time when there will be life no more.
There are two sides to this album. Most of the tracks are a mix
between progrock and progmetal. But there are also 7 “Earthscape”
tracks to explain the story. These tracks are more ambient, more a
soundtrack for a movie.
Progmetal tracks.
“Before there was” is a very good instrumental progressive track.
It’s a bit complex but still very enjoyable. The whole song breaths
a classical music atmosphere, with some subtle piano in the middle
piece. The drums are doing an excellent job.
“First Life” is also the first vocal track. The vocals are not bad
at all. Very rocky song with an adorable ELP Hammond solo and a very
catchy riff on the guitars. Everything is in perfect balance.
“Impact” is not really making a big impact on me. Less progressive,
more hard rock. Although the last two instrumental minutes make up
for this lack and also the intro is more symphonic.
A combination of rhythm guitar and keys give a quiet intro for the
rest of “Incommunicado, Prisoners Of Silence” that is heavier. Good
guitar solo and excellent keys but the track could have been
shorter. There’s a bit of exaggeration on the breaks.
“Missing Link” takes off with a flute solo; some quiet plucking on
an acoustic guitar and some quite intimate vocals. The vocals are
very good in this song. I wonder who’s doing the backing vocals,
because there’s nothing mentioned in the booklet, so I suppose they
are all done by Matt Cash.
The first minute of ”The Augmented Animal” contains electronic
voices. The rest of the song has a sixties feeling, especially the
harmony of the voices in the chorus has a strong Fortunes, Hollies
reference. This track contains about everything, a sixties chorus, a
heavier instrumental piece, superb guitar and keyboard solos,...
”Conspiracy” goes heavy again. Excellent work on the bass guitar and
the Hammond organ. The vocals in the verses are a bit too narrative
for me.
”The Planet Is Fine” is a beautiful semi ballad that gets a bit
heavier in the end. Great track! Great guitar solo!
”Signs” alternates between a symphonic keyboard riff and a speedy
part. I don’t really like the chorus, because it takes the rhythm
out of the song.
”What There Will Be”
The last of the non-Earthscape tracks is an instrumental entitled
“What There Will Be”, an exhibition of everybody’s skills.
Eartscapes.
All the songs are linked together with Earthscapes from part I to
part VII.
The story is told with electronic voices that are hard to
understand. I would have preferred some lyrics in the booklet. Most
of these tracks are ambient and could come from a film soundtrack.
Sometimes the lyrics are hilarious (from “The Hitchhiker’s guide to
the galaxy”) but sometimes they are quite boring. It may be fun to
listen to them the first time, but after a few times they annoy me.
They make me think of Frank Zappa’s Central Scrutinizer on “Joe’s
Garage”.
If you like this linking tracks or not, there’s still 57 minutes
full of brilliant music, so you can always program your player and
skip these earthscapes. That gives you an excellent progmetal album.
(with the emphasis on progressive) |
