TELLURIAN

The title more or less sums it up for Soen's second album ''Tellurian'', which shows evolution compared to their debut ''Cognitive'' in a sense that the sound has escaped the ''I want to become Tool in the place of Tool'' character. In addition, this release sounds much more progressive to my ears, contrary to the largely alternative rock found in Cognitive. Unfortunately, what has not changed is the derivative nature of their music: in this release they seem to be borrowing heavily from Opeth (e.g. 'The Words' and 'Ennui') and Katatonia, rather than only Tool. The mix is pleasant atmospheric, progressive/alternative experimental metal with well-worked melodic vocals that would satisfy the progressive metal fan but shows some serious pitfalls. Mikael Arkefeldt, Jonas Renske and Maynard James Keenan would be proud of a number of compositions in ''Tellurian''.

Granted, the compositions are worked to detail, the production is spotless, the balance of melody and heaviness is well-struck and there are some absolute killer riffs (see 'Kuraman', the latter part of 'Koniskas' or 'The Other's Fall') that take this release above the average and leave significant hope for the future. On the other hand, this is something I have heard before and would prefer to revert back to the original material if I had the chance. The heavier moments suit Soen better; the mellower could sometimes sound a bit too... mellow. The next release might prove if Soen have some more original ideas to take their career further.

Recommended listening: Kuraman, Void.

Thanks to Freeman Productions for the promo.

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