UNIVERSAL MIGRATOR, PART 2: FLIGHT OF THE MIGRATOR

I have the special edition which contains both "Universal Migrator" discs the way it should have originally been released. It's interesting in the center of the liner notes to see the lineup of guests side by side for both discs. It's not hard to figure out that this "Part II" version will be the heaviest one. Just check out the singers on here, that's all you need to do.This is a good album, in fact it's better than I thought it would be. It rocks pretty hard and we get a Power-Metal flavour popping up a few times.

"Chaos" opens the proceedings with spoken words which tells us what's going on in the story here. It kicks in heavily to the end. "Dawn Of A Million Souls" has some nasty organ 30 seconds in and it returns later on as well. Some orchestral-like moments here too. Nice guitar from Michael Romeo before 5 minutes. "Journey On The Waves Of Time" is probably my favourite vocally with Ralf (GAMMA RAY, PRIMAL FEAR) doing the honours. Violin to start and some great organ 3 1/2 minutes in. "To The Quasar" does nothing for me for the first 3 1/2 minutes then it changes to a heavier sound.

"Into The Black Hole" opens with mellotron and synths. It's dark as Dickinson comes in vocally. The heaviness comes and goes. The best part is 4 minutes in. Some crazy synths late. "Through The Wormhole" opens with synths before it turns heavy. Vocals join in.The tempo picks up before 2 minutes. It's okay. The guitar from Wehrkamp is excellent after 3 1/2 minutes. "Out Of The White Hole" is a good tune where the heaviness comes and goes. Some good contrasts here. "To The Solar System" kicks in at 2 minutes thankfully. A good rhythm to this one. "The New Migrator" is orchestral-like to start. It kicks in before 2 minutes to a powerful rhythm. Vocals too.

Well I prefer "Part I" of this two disc recording, but there's enough here to make it a set worth owning. I'll give this disc 3.5 stars.