ULTIMA RATIO

Superior

Progressive Metal

4.11 | 27 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

A really good concept piece of the german prog-metal band superior. I think a good addition to any collection but not a masterpiece. I thought it first but my mind changed.

As I already mentioned this is a concept piece, so what is the story behind. The story is well structured but it's not really original. You have this guy who is unhappy with his life and then he has an idea and with a friend he assumed power and called for Revolution. So he founded something like an enormous sect but that's quite irreal because his aim ist to erase feelings etc. (sounds like Euilibrium xD - but the movie came later...). So why should so many people join him? Would you give up your feelings, I doubt. Then there is his love but he has to split because the power is more importnat and listen yourself what happens at the end!

The music is really much influenced by Dream Theater but not as long and complex. It's more like Queensryche's "Operation : Mindcrime" but this time more complex but you can easily hear the parallels. So there's a lack in originality in the story as well in the music but the music is not bad, there are nice melodies, special parts to impel the story and a lot of changes in mood. You have heavy passages with nice 2 guitar riffing, piano passages, melancholic and sorrowfull arpeggio passages and this really amazing duet "FALLEN" with the usual singer who represents the guy who founded this group (Ultima Ratio) and his love, where they decide to split up. So it's a sad and quite atmospheric song first just with piano then in the chorus combined with strings and later a guitar solo and a soft guitar. But another thing I have to criticise is the fact of the length. Some songs like "ULTRA" are just too long and could be shorter cause they repeat the themes too often.

Highlights are "Reflections", "Reach for Reign", "The Unwanted", "Fallen" and "Terror Fantasy".

So a nice varied album with lots of changes in mood an interesting (although it's unlogic) story and a nice connection between lyrics, music and vocals but as I said not really self- contained.

W.Chuck | 4/5 | 2005-10-30

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