OBLIVIOUS TO THE OBVIOUS

Oh my god... I despise a lot of prog metal because too much of it is just really cliche, boring and entirely too predictable, but this album has got to be one of the worst. This has been the most difficult album for me to listen to throughout 2009. It was absolutely terrible. It sounded like a failed attempt at Dream Theater with Geoff Tate vocals. Nice try, Hourglass, but it didn't work out for you. I think the only song that even remotely got my attention was Delirium, an instrumental track. I began to enjoy the smooth jazz section, until it was completely ruined by failed-LTE guitar soloing. Throughout the entire album, there is just too much extraneous stuff... too much excessive playing where not needed. If you're gonna do that stuff, pick the right spots to do it to heighten the music. Don't let the playing take the place of the inspiring music. The music needs to grow and form itself on it's own. This is the perfect example of an album that was overshot and over-killed, and in result only held back what the music could have become. Another "Fail." for prog metal. Great job.