DELUSIONS

A fine female-fronted prog-metal album from this British-Hungarian band. Tom MacLean's guitar work shines throughout the whole album, alongside Julie Kiss excellent vocal style. Mature compositions and intricate, complex and surprising arrangement make this an appealing album. I've listened to this one about 40 times, and I still find new stuff all the time. Track development is almost always unexpected, and the music leads the listener in untraveled paths again and again. It's clear that the jazz influences from MacLean and Hen (keyboards) have contributed to the end product, which is still free-minded, genre-hopping and therefore so interesting.

The album opener, The lie is a stunning display of style and arrangement. The two closers, Fallen from Grace and Temptation are also very well written and executed. I know that MacLean is a SIKTH fan, but his melodic playing and contributions are much more digestible and dynamic when compared to the angry, loud stuff that SIKTH is making.

The only weak spot are Kiss's lyrics, which are a bit too obscure. Other than that, this is a fine addition to prog-metal fans willing to handle a delicate singer, smart progressive guitars and a few jazzy influences spread out on the table. When compared to their debut Transcendental (2006), it's exactly on the same level.