Customer Reviews

Ark

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ark is the awesome new progressive metal band whose three permanent members are pretty prolific. Guitarist Tore Ostby made four albums with the awesome band Conception before they broke up, and he later worked with DC Cooper on the vocalist's solo project. Drummer John Maculuso worked previously with Yngwie Malmsteen and TNT, while vocalist Jorn Lande worked with The Snakes and Uli Jon Roth. Also performing with the band is keyboardist Trond Nagell Dahl (also of Conception).

I found Ark several months ago by following the work of Tore Ostby, since Conception had been one of my favorite bands. To say I was impressed would be a huge understatement, although to my surprise this is nothing like Ostby's work with Conception. As the band writes in the liner notes, "...written in total artistic freedom beyond the boundaries of style." As such Ark is quite a unique group, their first album like nothing I've heard before. To put it simply, they take a progressive metal base and flavor it with a number of diverse styles for a blend makes a simple "progressive metal" label limiting. This is _progressive_ metal, not just progressive metal (if you know what I mean).

Take "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," where twisty metal riffs blend with flamenco guitars, swirling piano solos, accordions, and grandiose church organs. Also amazing on this song are Lande's vocals. The song juxtaposes a dreamy, quiet passage ("I'm higher when I'm dancing in the moonlight") with self-deprecatory moments ("There's darkness in my soul"), and Lande conveys each with incredible ability. Whether he's wistful and fragile or fierce and torn by anger, his vocal delivery on this song is stunning. For the first few listens, Jorne Lande's rough n' tough vocals bothered me, but now I can't understand what my problem was. He's an amazingly versatile singer, capable of strong emotional expression (especially on "Can't Let Go"), and he is perhaps one of the most tonally rich rock/metal singers I know of.

Ark's music is technically stunning. Macaluso's intricate polyrhythmic drums continually bewilder me, especially on "Mother Love" where he's the main drive that builds the song's intensity towards the chorus. Ostby, of course, is awe-inspiring, whether he's demonstrating acute nuances or insane fretting acrobatics. And while Ark will blow you away with their musicianship, they also appeal on an emotional level. "Can't Let Go," with its lamenting saxophone flourishes and heartbreaking guitar solo, is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard. "Where the Wind Blows" has one of the best ever vocal melodies, and chorus is excellent.

It's a shame that the production is very poor. The instruments don't have a lot of "oomph" to them, and the bass is virtually inaudible most of the time. Compared to the killer recording on the band's second album, Burn the Sun, it's a lot tougher to listen to this disc. That's unfortunate, because the music is really great.

If you're a fan of progressive music with no adversity to some heaviness, pick up Ark. It's a challenging release that takes weeks, or even months, for its greatness to unfold... therein lies its value.

One listen to ARK's self-titled debut, and you quickly realize that when these guys write music, they write music with absolutely no boundaries in mind. Within this CD exists a multitude of musical styles and genres. However, these diverse influences are blended in such a way, that it never seems that ARK is stretching the boundaries of taste, in favor of displaying their virtuosity.

Although ARK is a five-piece band, there are only three permanent members: Tore Ostby (guitar), Jorn Lande (vocals), and John Macaluso (drums). Individually, each member is a supremely gifted musician. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the members of ARK, the first name that you need to learn is Tore Ostby. He is an absolutely brilliant guitar player, whose style and grace are boundless. His solos seem effortlessly brilliant, and often guide ARK's songs into beautifully new directions. Jorn Lande sings with both power and passion. His work on "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is incredible. The only knock on Lande's singing is, that at times, he sounds drastically influenced by Whitesnake front man David Coverdale. The final compliment to ARK's amazing sound is John Malcuso's fantastic drumming. While he never overplays, he always seems to be doing something to enhance the song, and keep the listener on his toes.

Front start to finish, this is a wonderful CD. Whether it is musically, or lyrically, ARK has no weaknesses. Highlights on this CD include the aforementioned "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Where the Wind Blows", and "Singers at the World's Dawn".

I highly recommend this CD to anyone who is a fan of progressive rock, progressive metal, or great music in general.

2000 was a banner year for progressive metal with spectacular releases from Pain of Salvation, Symphony X, and Spiral Architect. Ark, however, delivered the best album in years with their self-titled debut. This is Tore Ostby's best guitar work since Conception's "In Your Multitude", heavy and stylish. Jorn Lande's emotive Coverdale-like vocals fit perfectly and add charisma. Most impressively, John Macaluso provides some of the most complex polyrhythms you'll ever hear (certainly not from his work with Malmsteen or TNT). He is brilliant. This is a must have for all drummers. The songwriting is excellent and the arrangements are intricate. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" should be a classic with its flamenco guitar, accordian, and piano lending atmosphere to the crunching central melody. With virtuosity, technicality, emotion, and melody this unfortunately poorly marketed CD shouldn't be missed.

I'm more than a little surprised by the negative reviews Ark's self-titled debut is getting here. I will grant the two points that everyone seems to harp on:

Yes, the band's follow-up album Burn the Sun is vastly superior.

No, the production on this album is not what it should be.

Still, this is a really excellent, and more importantly, a really unique progressive rock album. At a time when Dream Theater knock-off bands are a dime a dozen, it's nice to see a band that reaches a bit deeper. The Dream Theater influence is there of course, but this album brings to mind early Genesis and King Crimson more than anything else. It's very quirky, and very progressive, and never quite what you're expecting.

Ark was something of an "all-star" band, but two members' performances really stand out on this album. Guitarist Tore Ostby gives a masterful performance that is both intricate and passionate, and vocalist extraordinaire Jorn Lande exercises his Coverdale-like pipes to great effect.

As good as this album is, the band's second album is that much better, and tends to overshadow the debut. On its own merits, I think Ark holds up as a very solid progressive rock/metal album.

Ark is the awesome new progressive metal band whose three permanent members are pretty prolific. Guitarist Tore Ostby made four albums with the awesome band Conception before they broke up, and he later worked with DC Cooper on the vocalist's solo project. Drummer John Maculuso worked previously with Yngwie Malmsteen and TNT, while vocalist Jorn Lande worked with The Snakes and Uli Jon Roth. Also performing with the band is keyboardist Trond Nagell Dahl (also of Conception).

I found Ark several months ago by following the work of Tore Ostby, since Conception had been one of my favorite bands. To say I was impressed would be a huge understatement, although to my surprise this is nothing like Ostby's work with Conception. As the band writes in the liner notes, "...written in total artistic freedom beyond the boundaries of style." As such Ark is quite a unique group, their first album like nothing I've heard before. To put it simply, they take a progressive metal base and flavor it with a number of diverse styles for a blend makes a simple "progressive metal" label limiting. This is _progressive_ metal, not just progressive metal (if you know what I mean).

Take "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," where twisty metal riffs blend with flamenco guitars, swirling piano solos, accordions, and grandiose church organs. Also amazing on this song are Lande's vocals. The song juxtaposes a dreamy, quiet passage ("I'm higher when I'm dancing in the moonlight") with self-deprecatory moments of resentment ("There's darkness in my soul"), and Lande conveys each with incredible ability. Whether he's wistful and fragile or fierce and torn by anger, his vocal delivery on this song is stunning. For the first few listens, Jorne Lande's rough n' tough vocals bothered me, but now I can't understand what my problem was. He's an amazingly versatile singer, capable of strong emotional expression (especially on "Can't Let Go"), and he is perhaps one of the most tonally rich rock/metal singers I know of.

Ark's music is technically stunning. Macaluso's intricate polyrhythmic drums continually bewilder me, especially on "Mother Love" where he's are the main drive that builds the song's intensity towards the chorus. Ostby, of course, is awe-inspiring, whether he's demonstrating acute nuances or insane fretting acrobatics. And while Ark will blow you away with their musicianship, they also appeal on an emotional level. "Can't Let Go," with its lamenting saxophone flourishes and heartbreaking guitar solo, is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard. "Where the Wind Blows" has one of the best ever vocal melodies, and the itinerant-like chorus is excellent.

If you're a fan of progressive music with no adversity to some heaviness, pick up Ark. It's a challenging release that takes weeks, or even months, for its greatness to unfold... and therein lies its value.

This is among the premier "progressive" metal albums of all time. If you can't accept constantly changing time signatures, tempo shifts, polyrhythmic drumming, truly creative guitar virtuosity or if you need foot-tapping radio friendly tunes, look elsewhere. This is a technical masterpiece -- music for musicians.

John Macaluso's drumming is absolutely otherworldly! Ostby really displays his creativity on guitar, sacrificing his early neoclassical trappings with Conception for a truly unique listening experience. Jorn Lande is among the top metal/hard rock vocalists, and here he conjures more emotion than on any of his other releases.

I would argue that this may be among the most important and creative prog metal releases to date. Although it won't ever have the influence of an "Images and Words" or the popularity of an "Operation Mindcrime", it is in many ways superior to both. The musicians' proficiencies are astounding and the songwriting is among the most inventive you'll ever find. With a collection of thousands of prog metal CDs, this easily sits in the my 10. Masterpieces like "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" still place me in shellshock after hundreds of listens.

If you want melody and time signatures that your pop music-loving neighbor can tolerate, purchase the far inferior (albeit still good) "Burn the Sun". If you want to hear one of the most incredible studio performances in terms of technical mastery and clever songwriting in the past decade, this is a MUST own.

This is a different direction for Jorn Lande but that can be very refreshing and it still rocks. This CD is full of surprises and Lande's voice, as always, shines.

ARK's self titled debut is an excellent piece of progressive metal - if just sometimes barely - and while probably not as technically impressive or metallic as their second disc, _Burn the Sun_, it is in some ways superior to it's successor.

The musicians in ARK have a somewhat storied beginning, many of them (minus their singer Jorne Lande) coming from the renowned CONCEPTION, a band that made waves in the underground metal scene. John Macaluso is one of the most exciting drummers in prog metal, and while his maverick style of drumming doesn't show it's full power until their second release, it's emergence is prominent on several tracks here, as is Ostby's in the realm of prog-metal guitar leadership. Rounding out the package is the incredible Jorne Lande, a vocalist who's best work is perhaps in ARK. Not only is his range excellent, his voice is odd in a very enjoyable way, described by some to be like an evil sounding David Coverdale.

ARK's sound is difficult to describe because of the overall variety that creeps in almost inconspicously into their tracks. Everything from arabian themes to flemenco guitars to jazzy and sometimes bluesy guitar parts and sounds are here, weaving their way into songs.

The innovation doesn't stop there, as ARK finds still more ways of changing their sound to be less Dream Theater, and more unique, with the amazingly catchy and otherwordly sound of the main guitar melody of 'Burning Down' (you will know it when you hear it) to the heavy but somehow soft 'Where the Wind Blows', one of the several highlights on this album.

While the production isn't on par with their last and perhaps best release, _Burn the Sun_, it is adequate and the songwriting is more varied. Lande's lyrics are also refreshingly mature, lacking the cheesy nature that sometimes crept into their second release.

All music lovers (and especially musicians) should pick up a copy of this now out of print disc. Quite excellent.

*** - THREE STARS
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This, Ark's debut, isn't nearly as polished, or as impressive as their follow-up "Burn The Sun". It's an interesting mixture of Metal, and has it's momments, but the production hold it back in my opinion....

This is an excellent group of musicians, and on "Brun The Sun", they totally blow you away, this however isn't as good as advertised. It's worth 3 stars based on originality and overall execusion, but it's missing something...

Regardless, a decent purchace. If you have "BTS", and like it as much as I do, you should probably add this to your collection...

Okay gang. It's like this: Varied, sometimes heavy, always quirky, very cinematic, and a bit raw (especially on the production).

This album picks up where Conception left off, and whether you can stand a singer that sounds like David Coverdale or not, you can tell Tore and company are onto something terrific here. A new band to love, with a number of gems on this recording. I love "Burning Down" and "The Hunchback". There are elements of greatness throughout the CD, and I constantly keep it in the player.

I agree with many comments posted on Amazon that recommend Ark's "Burn the Sun", since it has better production and more polish to the songs, but "BtS" is also more mainstream. This album is the weirder and more progressive of the two, and the music here truly dominates. You can tell they weren't even going for anything remotely conventional, which I love.

Fans of Pain of Salvation, Conception, Eternity X, and (weirder) Queensryche should pick this up.