CELESTIAL ENTRANCE

Pagan's Mind is a unique act that leans more towards european melodic Power Metal, but in many of their albums add progressive elements that make their music very interesting and, to be quite frank, quite wonderful. They have a dark, spacey-futuristic feel that mainly comes from the keyboard playing of Ronny Tegner. Add to this the stellar guitar work of Jorn Viggo Lofstad (who I have heard compared to Eddie Van Halen, and while I see this I feel his playing is far superior and adds some of the flavor and techniques of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani maybe) and the unearthly, often banshee-like, 80's metal-style singing of Nils K. Rue, and thunderous drumming of Stian Kristoffersen, and you have quite an amazing style.

Celestial Entrance is the 2nd studio album by Pagan's Mind, and in this album we see potential realized. It is perhaps the most musically interesting of their albums, containing possibly the most interesting song structures, time signature changes, and technical wizardry. Some highlights include the dizzying instrumental "Back to the Magic of Childhood, Part 2: Exploring Life", the frightening metal sounds of "...Of Epic Questions", the spookiness of "The Prophecy of Pleiades", and the fist pumping "Aegean Shores". This is a perfect album for someone who loves Power Metal, and wants to experience Progressive Metal without diving in headfirst, and conversely would be a great album for any Progressive Metal lover who wants to try out some Power Metal.