THE ART OF NAVIGATING BY THE STARS

After eight years of silence Sieges Even was releasing their sixth album and it became their most untypical one and certainly their most accessible one. Of course Holzwarth brothers Oliver and Alex had not been completely idle during all those years but did some guest appearances with Blind Guardian (Oliver) and Rhapsody (Alex) after guitarist Wolfgang Zenk left the band to form 7 For 4. Rejoining with Markus Steffen in 1999 they carried on under the name Looking-Glass-Self releasing a promo-EP called "Equinox". After they lost (once again) their lead vocalist Andre Matos (ex-Angra) and found a brilliant replacement with the Dutch Arno Menses they decided to restart again under the new name Val'paraiso in 2003. But soon after they had recorded the new material they realized that it contained all features which are typical for the music of Sieges Even and switched back to the band's original name.

Though I said above that TAONBTS is their most untypical album it's nonetheless true that it's still sounding without any doubts like Sieges Even and everything what we (as fans of this exceptional band) always loved with them is still there. A highly versatile and playful guitar play, one of the best rhythm sections available and complex, convoluted compositions, that are at the same time highly memorable which was hardly ever the case in their history though. Whereas previous albums had been dominated by high technical skill and therefore might have sounded a bit cold to some ears their latest work became very atmospheric revealing plenty of emotion. The compositions became that much memorable - actually one could almost whistle them walking along on the street - I would never have expected from them and this was almost a reason for me to be disappointed right after the first spin. But never mind, though I usually do not prefer music having catchy hooks, TAONBTS became more and more enjoyable for me with every additional spin. This is not really a metal album (thought there are definitely some great metal riffs present) and some old fans adoring their thrashy debut might probably be disappointed (certainly nothing like "testicular fortitude" to be found on here). The closest comparison within their discography is probably "A Sense Of Change", not only because the line-up is almost the same (apart from the singer) but also due to the absence of any real heaviness. The high degree of emotionality shown here brings also POS's Be-album into my mind, although the variation of different music styles is absent here of course. But alone the deep, thoughtful and human lyrics are justifying this comparison I think.

To sum up my review I just can recommend this album not only to fans of this bands or of progmetal in general but to anyone liking more sophisticated, complex and at the same time easily accessible slightly harder-edged rock music. If I wouldn't have rated already two of their albums with 5 stars I would not hesitate to give the full score. But 4,5 stars really!