THE HUMAN EQUATION

The Human Equation" is a rock opera in the truest sense of the word.The songs on these two discs tell the simple story of a man, personified by Dream Theater's James LaBrie, who fell into a coma after a terrible accident. While his best friend (Lucassen), his wife (Marcela Bovio) and his father (Shadow Gallery's Mike Baker) stand around his hospital bed, the man struggles with his feelings, each represented by a different voice. Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt is Fear, Devon Graves of Psychotic Waltz and Dead Soul Tribe fame is Agony, Devin Townsend grunts and growls as Rage, The Quill vocalist Magnus Ekwall shines as Pride, the sweet and beautiful Heather Findlay of Mostly Autumn aptly personifies Love, the low voice of Saviour Machine's Eric Clayton represents Reason and Passion is done by Irene Jansen, sister of After Forever vocalist Floor Jansen and known for her work on Gary Hughes' double rock opera "Once And Future King" and Star One. "The Human Equation" is unmistakably Ayreon, touches of folk rock and seventies hippie influences add extra flavor to the progressive and symphonic rock and metal songs. Overall the material has turned out quite heavy. This is partly a consequence of Townsend's co-operation, as the songs he appears in as Rage - "Day Three: Pain", "Day Eight: School" and the weird but daring "Day Sixteen: Loser" - are the heaviest I've heard from Lucassen. But it's the beauty of magnificently built-up and haunting songs as the epic "Day Two: Isolation" , "Day Four: Mystery" (mark the outbreak of keyboards and guitars after two and a half minutes), "Day Five: Voices" with a sublime performance of Ekwall amongst others, "Day Six: Childhood" with panpipes by Jeroen Goossens, who took care of almost all wind instruments on this album, the varied and contrasting "Day Eight: School", opener of the second disc "Day Twelve: Trauma" and "Day Fourteen: Pride" carried by another impressive performance by Ekwall, that I will remember. You might have noticed that I mostly picked songs from the first disc, a direct consequence of its superiority in quality over the second one. With "The Human Equation", Arjen Lucassen confirms his status as master of the modern prog rock opera.He manages to deliver another high quality effort that is essential for fans of progressive metal.Highly Recommended,4 stars