THE ART OF NAVIGATING BY THE STARS

After reading so many glowing reviews about this band I've decided to get what they called their best. And boy, was I surprised by their sound! I know it is hard to label them, but to call it prog metal is going a bit too far. There is nothing vaguely metal here. In fact, if not the lenght of the songs and the shifting moods and the skilled musicanship you could almost mistake Sieges Even for a pop/alternative band (almost).

Don't get me wrong: they are prog. Even with no keyboards at all, those guys cannot be nothing else but progressive (long songs, the sudden tempo changes, the intricated musical parts and so on). The vocal lines are also great: Arno Menses has both the pleasant voice and the vocal technique to match his bandmates instrumental expertise (wonder how they play those songs live, with all the guitars overdubs, sometimes in the vein of Steve Howe from Yes, and the many harmony vocals). What strikes me is the fact that their songs are melodic enough to please even pop music lovers, while their craft will leave many listeners open mouthed. Different and hard to label, indeed. Production is top notch, you can hear everything very clear.

Since this is my first contact with this interesting band, I can't say much about their earlier and/or latter work, but surely it made me very curious about them (future reviews on them will come). Worth a (careful) listen. My rating for this album: 3,5 stars.