UNIVERSAL MIGRATOR, PART 2: FLIGHT OF THE MIGRATOR

YOOOHAAA...!! What an excellent album man .!! Yeah, it's rocking! It's inspiring! It kicks adrenalin to explode! Hmm .. it's a logical act that I key in this review right after reviewing the part One as conceptually these two albums should have been released as one set as colleague collaborator FloydWright has put it. Lucky that I purchased the Special Ed package where the two have been married into one unity with beautiful package. At first issue, I did not purchase it because various comments from friends about these two albums. One crowd said "it's too metal" commented those who adore prog while the other crowd said "it's too mellow" commented those metal mania. So I got confused. And at the time it was only in the form of cassette. Patience pays off. And now, I love the CD package - it has beautiful sleeve cover wrapped with cardboard at the outset (I haven't even removed the plastic that wraps the jewel, to maintain eternity .. Prog collection is a precious set for me; it's like the rings in Tolkien's story - in different context, of course.)

Chaos (5:10), as part one opening, it begins with a short narrative in futuristic style followed with the blast of power metal music with high driving rhythm and fast tempo reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen (uhm . I have been listening to many kinds of music so whenever I listen to something I can "associate" the style with others. Btw, for those who love metal must have known who Yngwie is.). This track has a powerful, speedy and skillful guitar work that leads the melody of this instrumental track with stunning and punchy keyboard work. It's trusly an adrenalin exploder track man! It's so uplifting, especially after listening to Part One which is much more mellower. [****]

Dawn Of Million Souls (7:45) opens with a marching style keyboard sound that reminds me to the nuance of ELP's "Fanfare for the Common Man". Organ sound enters the music altogether with drum rolls. I like the organ sound like this (sorry, I cannot emulate or give a precise description). The music flows with guitar riffs and organ as main rhythm augmented with light orchestra. I play this LOUDly and I really enjoy the sound. The vocal quality of Symphony X's Sir Russel Allen reminds me to the voice of David Coverdale of Deep Purple. This track has a wonderful orchestra outfit in the middle followed with stunning guitar solo in classic rock style. Wow man! [*****].

Journey On The Waves Of Time (5:47) continues with previous track's nuance with punchy organ / keyboard sounds featuring Ralf Scheepers (ex- Gamma Ray) vocal in high register notes. It's an uplifting track with relatively fast tempo style but without speedy double pedal bass drum typical in power metal vein. In the middle of the track, there is a nice passage that demonstrates stunning organ / keyboard solo. Structurally, it's a straight forward track with no major tempo change. [****]

To The Quasar (8:42) is a track that opens mellower track compared to previous tracks. The acoustic guitar dominates the rhythm section augmented with keyboard featuring the voice of Andi Deris of Helloween (the power metal pioneer). The music is composed in ambient style with some distant vocal. Approximately in the middle of the track, the music moves into a metal style with hard driving rhythm and riffs. It has great keyboard solo continued with stunning guitar solo. It concludes with wonderful organ sounds! [****]

Into The Black Hole (10:25) starts off with an ambient style that depicts heavy winds and long sustain keyboard sound followed with the blast of music in medium tempo and orchesrtral arrangement. It turns into quieter passage nicely, continued with the vocal line of Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden). He sings powerfully starting with low register notes and increases it with the passage of music especially after the entrance of music plus orchestra. Keyboard sound at the back provides a nice crusade of space music. This song has a beautiful guitar riffs and solo. I think this song has a marvelous orchestration. Some violin sounds remind me to Kansas music. There is also an excellent heavy guitar riffs in the middle followed with floating keyboard solo. Oh my God! What a great composition! [*****]

Through The Wormhole (6:05) is a fast tempo track with hard driving rhythm augmented with organ sounds featuring the voice of Fabio Leone (Rhapsody). It's a straight forward track in power metal style. [*** ½]

Out Of The White Hole (7:11) begins beautifully with punchy keyboard work in medium/fast tempo style featuring Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius) on vocal. The track contains keyboard solo that reminds me to Rick Wakeman style. In the middle of the track, the guitar riffs sound heavier followed with keyboard solo, continued beautifully with guitar solo. The mood is uplifting. The ending part contains an excellent combination of keyboard and guitar work with different style of music compared to the beginning part.[****]

To The Solar System (6:11) has an ambient intro with guitar work at background followed with vocal line in low register notes by Robert Soeterboek. The music turns louder with more obvious guitar riffs and keyboard work in medium/fast tempo style. [*** ½]

The New Migrator concludes the album with a fast speed music combining skillful performance of the musicians involved, featuring vocals by Ian Parry (Vengeance, Elegy). This is the kind of music that would music that might favor metal fans especially with its speed and excellent melody. I enjoy the guitar solo and its overall composition. It ends up with a drum / percussion that sounds like timpani. [****]

SUMMARY

It's a grandiose project by A A Lucassen. I'd prefer this part two compared to part one for the following reasons: 1. It has more variations in style, 2. Beautifully composed. It's probably that I have more metal blood than mellow style music, I think. I recommend you to buy the Special Edition package that contains part one and two as double CD album. Overall rating is 4+ out of 5 stars. Recommended. Keep on proggin' ..!!!

Progressively yours,

GW