SIDESHOW SYMPHONIES

No longer avant-garde but still a great band. The line-up now includes the vocals of Vortex( a big plus) and the guitar work of Tore Moren(Ark). I would put this band in the symphonic/space metal genre nowadays. The sound quality is lacking, and the band mentions planning to re-release it with better engineering. The keyboards are more about building emotion and atmosphere than in the past, the guitar work is ok, I hope for better work in the future from Tore Moren, the rhythm section is tight, Hellhammer's relentless drumming is still there, and Vortex's vocals are excellent on most songs, and he has a duet on 2 songs with female vocalist Silje Wergeland from the band Octavia Sperati. Highlights of the album include: Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer, Evacuation Code Deciphered, and Reflections. The format is simpler now as the band has decided to become a touring band. Great stuff, if they can keep a solid line-up and spend more time working together, they can create even better albums.