HEAVENLY ECSTASY

On first listen, I found this album rather disappointing, as it has less to offer in the technicality/virtuosic field that Pagan's Mind has never before failed to impress us with. But after a while I found myself listening to this album repeatedly. And it took me a while to figure out why I was enjoying it so much.

What makes "Heavenly Ecstasy" what it is, is the powerful composition and emotion. While Pagan's Mind may have taken a more simplistic approach to their musicality on this album in terms of time signatures, speed, and harmonic features, their songs are way more emotional and the band have musically progressed more since "God's Equation" than they have between any of their other albums.

What will probably stand out to previous Pagan's Mind fans:

☢The new synth sounds - the synthesisers are more "futuristic" sounding and play a more melodic role on the album. These synths will sound very dated within a decade's time.

☢The simpler chord progressions - while I prefer the more complicated jazzy chord progressions, I feel that this works well within the album.

☢Slower, more ballady pieces - again, a large change to the Pagan's Mind sound.

☢A more sentimental approach to the composition - the pieces are more introspective and sentimental.

☢A more "epic" sounding mix - rather than speed, Pagan's Mind have made this album feel louder and more powerful. Though I love the fast pieces that made their previous sound, I think that this works to the album's advantage.

☢Cleaner production - the album has a nice clean production, but I can't help but feel like it gives the album a more commercial edge.

The album has quite many great tracks and so it is not easy to pick my favourite. But the key tracks for me are:

♪ Eyes of Fire - A great opener. I love the chord progression.

♪ Follow Your Way - This track is a very nicely composed piece of music, with a chorus that I find very moving.

♪ Live Your Life Like a Dream - Probably the cheesiest song on the album, but also a very beautiful and heartfelt one.

♪ Never Walk Alone - This track is by far my favourite on the album.

I personally think that this is an excellent addition to any progressive music library, but it is worth much more to me than a rating.

Share this PAGAN'S MIND review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to The Mystical
• Report this review (#921372)
• Buy PAGAN'S MIND music online with PA partners
• Show all PAGAN'S MIND MP3/Stream
• Go to PAGAN'S MIND page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Heavenly Ecstasy page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for PAGAN'S MIND related discussions