A GENTLEMAN'S HURRICANE

Prog Metal is alive and well thankyou very much. After being blown away by PATHOSRAY's debut released this past year(2007), here is another killer album from 2007. This one is a concept album created by the band's mastermind Daniel Flores(drums & keys). In an interview he said they basically made the music to fit his storyline. It is heavier than any of their previous records, but that wasn't planned, it just fit the concept better. I did feel like I was listening to a movie a lot when listening to this cd. The story is about an assassin who has just killed another victim, he then goes into a church afterwards to try to get rid of his mounting guilt before he has to leave(in 7 days) for his final assassination. So we have this dialogue between him and a retired preist he meets in this church. He has seven days to tell his newly made friend his life's story and the 12 murders he's already committed. I have to comment on the cover art. It's an amazing picture of a well dressed man walking towards a hurricane. Flores says that it depicts the chaos that the main character sees everywhere he goes. It's that turmoil he's trying to get rid of at the church. By the way a couple of Flores favourite releases from 2007 were from SYMPHONY X and THRESHOLD. Throughout this disc we also get a lot of samples of our main character talking and many other sounds much like PINK FLOYD did on "The Wall".

"Praying For Confession" is a good example of background sounds as we can hear him walking and opening a door and then pouring a drink then talking. Orchestral music comes in and then a choir before the main vocalist sings for the first time. A powerful soundscape follows. "Seven Days" is where things start to get really good. A nice heavy sound with vocals. Some great riffs too. There are mellower sections in contrast to the heavy ones. "Assassination" features catchy riffs and then it calms down quickly with processed vocals(great section). Back to the uptempo, powerful sound. The chorus is very catchy as well. "Chaos Unleashed" opens with a punishing melody that lightens when synths arrive. Vocals come in as the contrast of the heavy and lighter passages continue. Blistering guitar 3 minutes in with some really good synth work to follow. "Hell's Invitation" opens with spoken words as heavy riffs and vocals follow. A killer guitar solo before 4 minutes.

"Feed My Revolver" and the next one "Ashes To Ashes" are my two favourites.The first one offers up the heaviest sound yet. Absolutely crushing with lots of bottom end. Amazing chorus as well,and check out the synth work. "Ashes To Ashes (in land lullaby)" opens with the sounds of a baby crying before pounding drums take over with vocals right behind. I really like the sound when it settles down before we get pulverized again. The contrast continues. Ripping guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. The drums rumble like on a TOOL record. It ends with a phone conversation. "The Hour Of Need" is a restrained tune that opens with more talking before male then female vocals come in. "Red Winter Sirens" opens with another conversation as piano and reserved vocals come in. This one is all over the place until it settles in with a powerful rhythm after 3 minutes. "Skin Crawl" is a fantastic song with a great chorus. He really winds out the guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. "Graveyard Hands" is a beautiful song with a Celtic flavour at times. Lots of flute in the beginning and after 4 minutes. "Say Goodnight" opens with spoken words before a crunchy guitar led soundscape takes over. Vocals join in as well as some crazy, spacey synths. Great guitar after 3 minutes. "Pandora's Musical Box" is an uptempo track with some incredible drumming. You can hear a music box come and go. Some heaviness before 6 minutes with some nice guitar a minute later. It ends with a choir and spoken words.

If your into Metal and concept albums then this is a must ! I do prefer PATHOSRAY's cd a little more but still recommend this one highly.

From the liner notes of the CD/DVD A Gentleman's Hurricane:

On a dark and foggy day in September, three shots are heard in the deep dark woods of The mother of Presidents state Virginia. Adam Evangelista, a 53 years old retired top assassin whose ice cold walls have been worn down by his now continuing growing guilt, searches for an answer to it all, like we all do at one point or another. He acknowledges that he can't continue without finding a way to ease his mind.

Seeking refuge at the town's own church and the now retired head priest Father Cavallero Di mori, coincidently visiting his old church and parish. Adam tries to get into the depths of his own disturbed but at the same time genius mind. Describing his life and assassinations for his now new made friend father Cavallero during sessions of confessions. Both men reveal deep secrets unknown to the outside world. Dark secrets they both are ashamed of, linking them to each others past.

Adam's sins and stories stretch from Sweden, Ireland, Italy, France, former USSR, Mexico and USA. Taking orders from the well known secret society The Illuminati. Adam's marks are some the most important people in our time, but there is a catch, he has only seven days to pour his heart out before his very last job and time is running out.

Twelve Murders in Seven days. So little time ... So much to tell...

The Mind's Eye are a 3 piece consisting of Johann Niemann - Bass and all guitars, Andreas Novak - Lead Vocals, and Daniel Flores - Drums, keyboards, string arrangements and all harmony vocals. The story concept and all lyrics were written by Daniel Flores. He also wrote all the compositions except Ashes to Ashes, Red Winter Sirens, Skin Crawl, Say Goodnight, and Pandora's musical box which were written together with Johan Nieman. The band produces their albums in the studio without any rehearsals or live sets.

This album doesn't waste any time pulling you into the story by the first track Praying for Confession. The mood is set with an eerie beginning and an introduction to your main characters Adam Evangelista and at the end of the track Father Cavallero Di mori. Then it goes right into Seven Days which is a rocking track which holds and conveys most of Adam's guilt. Assassination contains a great chorus and this track becomes the basis of Adam's justification for what he has become and what he must still do. Chaos Unleashed shows his job like nature, but he continues to struggle, and the piece adds tension to what is to come. In Hell's Invitation he craves salvation, but knows he's doomed. All this builds up to the track Feed My Revolver where we meet the head of the illumanati and gives Adam's his orders which he carries out. (This is the Video that is on the DVD which explains a little more of the story). Ashes to Ashes In Land Lullaby he finds that he has a daughter and now must separate his two roles of being a father and beast. The Hour of Need is a relatively short track where he meets Norma Jean. Red Winter Sirens he travels to Russia and meets with the russian man, this a relatively slow track where his fellowship has ended. Skin Crawl he witnesses that he sheds the skin like a snake and watches blind justice for the crimes he's committed. I'll stop here describing the tracks because I certainly don't want to give away the ending are Graveyard Hands, Say Goodnight, and Pandora's Musical Box.

Cast of Voices: Bobby Vellucci as Adam Evangelista. Chris Catena as father Cavallero Di mori. Andy Craven as Head of Illuminati. Mia Coldheart as Norma Jean.

Musical Guests: Mia Coldheart vocals on The Hour of Need. Tommy Denander Lead guitar on Those Who Fear Rolf Pilotti Piccolo Flue, Side flute on song 11 and backing vocals on songs 9,10,12 and 13. Doyle McGraw Warpipes on Graveyard hands. Johannes Lindstrom and David Risberg vocals on Praying for Confession.

This album is very melodic with some good compositions. Although the raw emotion and extreme technical prowess are absent, it's still a very nice story with gifted musicians. The voice tracks are well done and not overbearing, so it doesn't get old like watching the same television episode.

I recommend this album to those who love concept albums and rock operas.

Mind's Eye was initially a progressive band where the main characteristic of the music was melodic and heavy. Some have termed them as marrying heavy metal and progressive rock, taking influences from bands like: Rush, Yes, Queensrÿche, E.L.O, Winger, Toto and Genesis. The embryo of the band started in 1992 when Johan Niemann (bass) and Daniel Flores (drums & keyboards) met Fredrik Grünberger (guitar). They first called themselves as Afterglow, recorded and made a self-produced, self-financed promotion CD named Afterglow. In 1997 they finally got a deal with a record company and recorded their first CD Into the Unknown for the American label. The album was well received in both American and German press. This "A Gentleman's Hurricane is my first introduction to the band. Based on this album I can say that the music of Mind's Eye is similar to Royal Hunt but with more energy in most of its compositions. Put it in more suitable category, the music of Mind's Eye (especially this album) is a heavy progressive AOR with song-orientated compositions characterized by catchy melody.

If you like Royal Hunt, you might love this one ...

The opening track "Praying for Confession" is a grandiose composition where the musical arrangement is quite complex and challenging with great string section plus great textures. I was so impressed with this opening track and I expected what follows would be something similar. As a matter of fact I could not rely the grandiose opening to happen in the next tracks. It's not but it does not mean the music is bad. In fact I really enjoy the second track "Seven Days" which characterizes the melodic and heavy style of the music. Yes, you might find similar riffs like Dream Theater but it's obvious that the music of Mind's Eye is nothing similar with Dream Theater. If one forces this way, it's probably very small portion of the music that fits Dream Theater music style. "Assassination" sounds like Asia performed in heavy mood. The next track "Chaos Unleashed" confirms the similarity of Mind's Eye with Royal Hunt especially during intro part.

"Hell's Invitation" is provocative title and it has excellent composition with riff-based rhythms section. The next song "Feed My Revolver" moves in similar vein with its predecessor followed by "Ashes to Ashes (In Land Lullaby)" which has a good combination between mellow and heavy parts. The guitar solo is stunning. Almost all songs share similar styles that sometimes make me a bit bored with the rhythm section. I know the as far as individual track concern, you cannot deny that the individual song stands out firmly as good to excellent track. But when it's combined into one cohesive hole I find there is limited diversities from one passage to another or one song to another. I know that the composition of each music is excellent and you might find that "Pandora's Musical Box" is an excellent example of their tight composition. The problem is there is minimum tides between high and low parts.

Overall, I would recommend this album for those who like AOR in heavier composition. The individual song is strong in melody and tight composition. It's an enjoyable album even though I feel "bored" after three-quarter part of the album due to not enough diversity as an album. Those who like Royal Hunt, Styx, Coheed and Cambria and Kansas would love this album, I believe. 3.75 stars overall rating. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

|B-| A powerful and brilliantly produced prog metal album with a great story.

Mind's Eye is a band that's been slowly rising in the ranks of prog metal acts, especially with their most recent release, A Gentleman's Hurricane. Here we have a pretty standard but quality prog metal album with an interesting storyline about an assassin, bringing Operation Mindcrime to mind, as others have mentioned. There are also some very slight power metal, AOR, and alternative rock influences mixed in, along with some classical, and even some folk in the track track Graveyard Hands, my favorite track on the album. These influences are blended quite well, making for a quite unique sounding release for the band.

Overall the album is of pretty consistent quality composition, with both some incredibly strong and slightly weaker moments. Vocal melodies are a prominent force in driving the music as well as catchy riffs, but combined with those two elements is some great keyboard work, drumming, and vocal harmonies, done by the brilliant Daniel Flores. The first half of the album is a bit stronger than the second, having the strongest tracks on the album (1-6), all of which I love. The second half has all good tracks, but the only outstanding ones are Red Winter Sirens and Graveyard Hands.

This was a strong release for this band, and I'm now more interested to see what the rest of their discography sounds like. There is a lot of great energy in this music. It's very inspired sounding, and the production quality sounds really top-notch to these ears, very impressive indeed, as is the storyline, filled with some good though slightly obvious symbolism. Astonishing music coming from three quite gifted musicians. I strongly recommend this album to prog-metal listeners especially. If you like bands of the more melodic and heavier nature, this is an album for your collection.