METAMORPHOSIS

A nice album, quite melodic, very inspired by the sounds of Yes, with great space for the vocals of Christina Booth. I do not think that could be considered an essential album, but certainly has its moments.

The negative aspects that I think stand out in "Metamorphosis" are essentially two:

1. the emphatic use of electronic keyboards, especially the synth that seems decidedly out of context: sometimes it creates too bombastic atmospheres and sometimes it's exaggerated "poppy." Fortunately, in many parts guitar and piano are the guide istruments.

2. the voice of Christina Booth, undoubtedly beautiful but too cold for my taste. She is definitely a good singer but she lacks a bit expressive and interpretative abilities (listen to Sonia Kristina and maybe you'll understand my opinion).

The tendency to insist on parts very melodic is not necessarily a flaw; Melodic parts makes the album enjoyable, however, even considering the length of the tracks (there are two epics for more than 20 minutes each). The only consequence is that, after several plays, the album too melodic tend the listener to get bored easily. But we can hardly get bored listening to the first long epic The Ballad Of Samuel Layne where, in contrast to what followed, the melodic moments are rare and almost all in the second half of the song. It is definitely the artistic summit of the album, not easily accessible (the first time I heard the album I did not like it) with clear references to Yes albums like "Relayer" or "Tales". The different parts that make up the suite are well connected, the voice of Christina (who sings the desperation of a wife of a soldier in war) has great space. Excellent guitar parts (the sound, but obviously not the technique, reminds almost perfectly to Steve Howe) with good solos. Then the final crescendo, very well built. The only flaw, the useless, but thankfully short sequence of synth notes, that you can hear after 44 seconds from the start of the suite, mixed at a too high level: it disturbs me every time I listen to this song.

By contrast, the title track, a second suite of more than 23 minutes, is much more catchy and obvious in its musical developments. The suite, musically very close to the canons of neoprogressive, especially in the first part seems a bit confused: things are much better in the second half, where once again the guitar parts are the most successful. The shorter tracks really do not add anything to the quality of the album, they are too melodic to be really interesting (especially "Prekestolen where the sound of the keyboard is very banal).

Finally, the rating. The album lasts 54 minutes. The best songs, certainly interesting, are the two long epics. So we have about 44 minutes of good music, sometimes excellent (The Ballad Of Samuel Layne is one of the most interesting epic in recent years). The decision must therefore be positive, despite the presence of too many melodic moments, but this is a prerogative of neoprogressive. Howewer, maybe for non-fans of female vocals I would not recommend it. Whereas the individual songs evaluations are: The Ballad Of Samuel Layne 8 / 10, Prekestolen 3 / 10, Metamorphosis 5 / 10, Blind Faith 4 / 10. Overall my rating for this album is 5 / 10.

Three stars.

Best song: The Ballad Of Samuel Layne

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