Customer Reviews

Abstract Symphony

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this CD looking for a sound similar to Symphony X, and I found out that it wasn't. The electric guitar sounds of this album go everywhere from complicated to awesome speed. The minus 2 stars is because less that half of this album is really worth of listening to it, the songs just simply don't do it for me. One think I can promise you, songs like "Golden Sea", "Crimson Sun" and "Nitro Pitbull" will just blow you away.

This album is absolute killa! it has everything, first of all it has meldody, technicality and one of the best vocalists Ive heard in a long time!!! The guitarists from Vanishing point actually recommended this album to me! Im so glad I bought it! Thankyou Chris.

I enjoyed songwriter/keyboardist Richard Andersson's work with Space Odyssey enough that when I ran across Abstract Symphony, the first CD by his prior band Majestic, I decided to take a chance and check it out.

Despite Andersson's later progressive metal work, Majestic's sound is very firmly rooted in the traditional power metal style (equal parts Maiden, Priest, and Helloween). There were a lot of really great power metal albums released in 1999, but this isn't one of them. It's decent enough, but I tend to be pretty selective when it comes to this kind of music, and compared to what bands like Angel Dust, Freedom Call, Gamma Ray, Kamelot, Labyrinth, Stratovarius and Luca Turilli released that year, there's just nothing that makes Abstract Symphony stand out.

It's not a bad album by any means. There are some pretty flashy guitar solos, nice melodies, and Anderssen's intricate keyboards are always worth hearing. The vocals are the weak link, and I'm a vocals first kind of guy, so that pretty much sinks the album for me. The band also seems to be missing that sense of uniqueness that makes some of the bands I listed above so interesting. This is just another power metal band, and that's just not good enough when there are so many choices in that genre.

If you have an all-consuming love for power metal, there's probably enough going on here to satisfy. If you're looking for something special though, you probably ought to keep looking.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Golden Sea
2. Losers Shades of Hell
3. Standing Alone
4. Silence
5. Crimson Sun
6. Ceasefire
7. Black Moon Rising
8. Blood of the Tail
9. Shadows from Beyond
10. Nitro Pitbull
11. Seekers Battlefield