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Maybe the name
Abydos doesn’t tell you a lot, but knowing this is the newest solo
project from Andy Kuntz, lead singer of the German progmetal band
Vanden Plas, should raise the expectations. It hasn’t become a very
heavy album, and although it has its heavy moments, I’d rather
classify it as real progressive rock. And to bring you the good news
immediately, this is pure class. It’s as if Kuntz has had some
brilliant ideas for years, but couldn’t let them escape with Vanden
Plas. And yet, I’m a real Vanden Plas fan, but the music which their
lead singer has put on this record, is even better, if possible, and
certainly contains more variation.
Maybe some of you don’t know that Andy Kuntz has been playing an
active part for years in musicals and rock operas like “Jesus Christ
Superstar’, “Rocky Horror Show”, “Evita” and “Nostradamus”. And
these influences have continued in his new project. Everything is a
bit more melodic.
The name Abydos was chosen for a very special reason. It refers to
an Egyptian tomb site in the Valley of the Kings, where Osiris, God
of ethernal reincarnation, was worshipped. On the one side, Abydos
is seen as the origin of the theatre, but the choice of name for
this project was also inspired by the loss of some dearly beloved by
Andy in 2003. That explains why the album is dark and melancholic
from time to time, but that shouldn’t lower the fun. In fact, it’s
telling a (autobiographic?) story by analogy with certain rock
operas, inspired by the progressive rock of the seventies, but
larded with a progmetal sauce. For this, Kuntz called upon 2
brilliant musicians, Stephan Glass and Michael Krauss and his
drummer pal from Vanden Plas. And the latter pulls out all the stops
during the opening track, a heavy instrumental piece. The sequel
“You Broke The Sun” certainly is surprisingly quiet with a Pink
Floyd intro, but after a few minutes the tempo is accelerating and
we get a real progressive, symphonic, yes, even bombastic, passage
in a style that reminds me of Dream Theater in their better days.
It’s no coinsidence that his voice ressembles a bit Labrie’s best
vocals. The choirs in the background have a ‘musical’ feeling.
‘Silence’ starts of as some progressive metal in Vanden Plas style,
but it turns out to contain a very melodic and catchy chorus. The
electronic passage in the vain of Jean Michel Jarre is very
interesting and comes just after a heavy guitar-keyboards duel, to
be followed afterwards by a splashing guitar solo.
The beautiful ballad ‘Far away from heaven’ refers to AOR-bands of
the seventies, but further along the track there’s some brilliant
symphonic music, the real prog fan will certainly like this track.
And we are miles away from the heavy progmetal.
Coppermoon is a perfect hybrid between Vanden Plas, Pain of
Salvation and Dream Theater, references which are found more than
once. Because of the symphonic character and the variation in guitar
and keyboard solos, Ayreon fans will certainly appreciate this disc.
Hyperion Sunset proceeds under the same canvas.
God’s Driftwood starts rather threatening and ominous and bulges
with changes in tempo in good old seventies style, a typical Led
Zeppelin riff with accompanying orchestral arrangements and a guitar
solo that reminds me of Uriah Heep. Hair-splitters will maybe tell
you that this CD contains a lot of clichés, but when they are
brought in a professional way, who’s complaining? For that matter, I
would even compare this album with The Human Equation from Aryeon.
Radio Earth also contains a lot of influences, from electronic music
from the eighties, to The Who, Queen,..., beautifully woven into a
musical tour de force. And not to forget, the superb pieces on the
acoustic guitar. The originality of the tracks is mainly due to the
strength of the compositions.
The title track Abydos sounds exceptionally dark and melancholic,
but is again magnificent because of the orchestral arrangements in
combination with the heavy proggy intermezzos and the excellent
vocals. Breathtakingly beautiful. Andy’s experience with musicals is
coming to the surface. And just listen to the outro, it could be
taken directly from a classical piece.
After a short piece with a computer voice and keyboards, there’s
Wildflowersky, melodic progmetal à la Vanden Plas with again some
musical and vocal highlights. And even if I was already convinced of
the top quality of this album, the best song had yet to come. A
beautiful classical introduction (I’m thinking of a certain
composer, but I can’t remember his name) opens “A Boy Named Fly” as
a ballad, but the heavy guitars take the helm. Surprisingly how the
voice reminds me here of Ken’s Novel but that’s the only similarity.
Once more, everything is present in this track and that’s what makes
this album so special.
Or, in a nutshell, this isn’t another project from a frustrated
musician, but a genuine masterpiece from a man who has used all his
experience to make something unique. It’s gonna be a difficult
choice to pick a CD of the year 2004, this is from the same quality
as Karmakanic and Ayreon. And it should be obvious by now, you MUST
buy this one!
First solo project by Vanden Plas vocalist Andy Kuntz |
