A MIND'S PORTRAIT

AEON ZEN consists of multi-instrumentalist Richard Hinks and drummer Lloyd Musto.They're both 20 years old and went to the same university in London to study music. So they've been creating and playing music together for several years now. They have some high profile guests helping out on vocals, keys and guitar. I must say right off the top that these two guys not only play amazingly well but these songs they've created are brilliant. A very talented duo.The album's title "A Mind's Portrait" gives us a clue why there is so much variety on this album. Very cool album cover as well.

"Existence" opens with pounding drums as synths roll in. Vocals from Andi Kravijaca (SEVENTH WONDER) arrive as it calms down. A heavy sound kicks in after a minute as the tempo continues to shift. Guitar comes to the fore before 3 minutes and he starts to light it up as drums pound. We're warmed up now. "Time Divine" features the vocals of PAGAN'S MIND singer Nils K Rue. This is without a doubt the greatest vocal performance on this album. Some guest guitar from Matt Sheppard (TIMEFALL). I love the way this song starts (hard and fast). Nils comes in powerfully (he is freaking amazing!). I can't say enough about his singing on this track. Everytime he sings on the chorus it's really emotional for me. Then the band kicks back in wreaking havoc. Some blistering guitar after 3 minutes that turns into a gorgeous solo. "Blinded Rain" features Andi on vocals again. Tasteful guitar to open as reserved vocals come in. Piano before 1 1/2 minutes.The song is more powerful a minute later but it's brief as it calms right down with some nice bass and piano. The guitar starts to grind away. Vocals return with the earlier soundscape. Some beautiful guitar late.

"Hope's Echo Pt.I" and "Pt.II" has Andreas Novak (MIND'S EYE) on vocals.The first part is a ballad with vocals and piano leading the way.This is my least favourite track which is no surprise considering I have an allergy to ballads. The second part is more like it. The drums and guitar are outstanding as the heaviness comes and goes. "A Mind's Portrait" reminds me of OPETH's "Damnation" album. It has a similar dark and melancholc sound with reserved vocals. It kicks in before 3 minutes before waves of sound come in late as it blends into "The Circle's End" which is really the instrumental conclusion of "A Mind's Portrait". This is simply a fantastic instrumental. Drums lead the way early then the guitar comes in ripping it up. So impressive ! "Heaven's Falling" opens with piano and drums as vocals come in. I like when the sound gets fuller before a minute. It then changes completely to an OSI- like ("Free") style which includes kicking some ass. Back to the chorus before it settles. I like the atmosphere before 4 minutes.Some chunky bass too. A blistering keyboard solo a minute later from Cristian Van Schuerbeck (ALL TOO HUMAN), then the chorus returns.

"Into The Infinite" features some prominant drumming 30 seconds in as synths come in then vocals. A powerful soundscape 2 minutes in. Here we go again before 3 1/2 minutes, it sounds like a runaway train ! Killer track ! I should mention that Andi does the vocals and guitar on this one. A calm 4 minutes in before it kicks back in late. Nice. "Goddess" is an instrumental that opens with piano with some violin joining in. The full orchestral sound after 2 minutes is so moving. It then settles back down to the opening soundscape. "The Demise Of The Fifth Sun" is the final track and the epic at 12 1/2 minutes. Check out the vocals from Elyes Bouchoucha (MYRATH) from Tunisia. The piano to start is blown away quickly by a thunderous soundscape. My God ! Lloyd is beating the hell out of his drumkit as vocals come in.This guy can sing man ! A rampage 4 minutes in with some growls. Some nice guitar a minute later when it settles. Complex and aggressive music 6 minutes in.This is great. Organ 8 minutes in. Vocals and synths before 9 1/2 minutes followed by an outstanding drum display with some brief growling.

This is a must-have. I'll be interested to see where they go from here. With all the guest vocalists and the variety of music on here they really don't have their own identity and sound yet. That doesn't matter right now because this is flat out amazing ! Tough to pick a favourite but "Time Divine" with Nils' vocals might be the one, although "A Mind's Portrait", "Into The Infinite" and "The Demise Of The Fifth Sun" are all at the top for me.

Aeon Zen is a young band from Britain who release an album this year named A mind's portrait. I was really impresed to see some strong musicians featuring here on this album as guest musicins, I mean the main composers Richard Hinks and Lloyd Musto are only 20 years old and they manage to gather a real strong unit here. The musicians are from famous prog metal bands like the vocalist from Pagan's MInd, the vocalist from Silent Call and ex Seventh Wonder and Elsphere, the vocalist from tunisian prog metal band Myrath, and the rest of the musicians are from Timefall, All to Human and Mind's Eye. The music on this album is well written and has some really strong moments, but overall is not somthing special, at least to my ears. Each musician has his own identity and give to the listner a great atmosphere, each one has diffrent kinds of manner of interpretation the prog metal here, so the result is a good one , but nothing grounbreaking, really. I prefer the pieces where is Nils K. Rue from Pagan's MInd because here he is almost close to what he does with his band, sometimes I have the feeling I'm listning to a Pagan's Mind piece, not band for sure. The other piece that I like is the final one The Demise Of The Fifth Sun , the longest and the most edged and "brutal" from the album with Elyes Bouchoucha on vocals from Myrath. Being a fan of this fantastic tunisian band , was clear I love his voice here on this piece, again very close to what he doues with his band Myrath, again good. Now about the rest of the pieces, to my ears sounds a littlr to shy, I mean the voice of Andi Kravljaca is good no doubt but is so same with many other from prog metal singers, noting special, same range, but in the end he does a good job here, the rest of the musicians is almost unnoticed from me, but not bad for sure. So for this debut Aeon Zen desearve 3 stars, that means is a good album but is nothing special, I've heard a lot more greater albums from prog metal. Anyway ,keep up the good work guys, this is a pleasent album all the way. 3 stars, worth investigate if you are listning to prog metal. CD available on CDbaby among others, don't hesitate to buy it , worth some spins from time to time.

OK, now this is the kind of progressive metal that usually grabs me........music that entertains from beginning to end by taking the time to present a variety of emotions through the use of aggressive, heavy passages peppered with truly beautiful acoustic moments that showcase the vocalist's range and power. Everything here is working in perfect harmony. There really is never a dull moment. Keyboards play an important part in progressive metal and this album is a shining example of it being applied perfectly. From subtle washes of acoustic keys and synths to powering very technical passages along to goose-bump inducing heights, the song writing is of a very high caliber. The guitarist is no slouch either. it's that prog-metal lead that just defines the genre. it's the kind of album that reminds me why i have always enjoyed this kind of stuff........simply put, this is one kick-ass release, and very highly recommended!

Friends and bandmates going back to when they were 17 (if not before that), Richard Hinks and Lloyd Musto decided to put together an album on their own. Musto plays the drums and Hinks handles the rest of the instruments, as well as vocal duties for both of them (backing and lead). With the help of Time Divide Records, the duo was able to contact some guest vocalists and convince them to appear on their first album from 2009, A Mind's Portrait. Four singers agreed to lend their voices to Aeon Zen: Andi Kravljaca [Silent Call, ex-Seventh Wonder], Nils K. Rue [Pagan's Mind], Andreas Novak [Mind's Eye] and Elyes Bouchoucha [Myrath]. Along with the singers, guitarist (and former bandmate of Hinks and Musto in Timefall) Matt Shepherd lends a couple guitar solos to the album, Cristian Van Schuerbeck [All Too Human] has a Moog solo in another song and Andi Kravljaca even gets in on the action as well with some soloing of his own. Additionally, artist Mattias Norén agreed to create the artwork for the album. The first three songs are a pretty good representation of what to expect on A Mind's Portrait, even with two different singers (Kravljaca in "Existence" and "Blinded Rain", Rue between those in "Time Divine"). Rich Hinks does an admirable job with everything he's tackling in the songs, with solos from Shepherd helping out in the first two. That's not to say that he can't hold his own - he most certainly can. As comfortable as he is with a guitar in his hands, he seems equally capable with a bass instead or with a keyboard in front of him.Both parts of "Hope's Echo" are a bit different than the first three songs, in no small part due to Andreas Novak's vocals. These songs aren't really out of place, especially considering that this is more of a project than a band, but the difference is noticeable. The first part is only a piano and Andreas, with guitars, bass and drums coming in for the second part.Hinks takes over lead vocal duties for "A Mind's Portrait". As with the previous two songs, this song marks a different kind of sound for the album (and not just vocally) - some of Opeth's lighter material came to mind first, among others. This song leads right into the first instrumental of the album, "The Circle's End". While it works on its own, it could just as easily remained the tail end of the title track.For"Heavens Falling", Musto joins Hinks for the vocals. Unfortunately, the effects that are put on the vocals make it hard to really get into the song. The second half of the song is a bit better (and features Van Shuerbeck's blistering solo), but the effects are still present. It's hard to say, but I think the song would've sounded just fine without anything else being done to the vocals and it wouldn't end up being like filler with a couple moments that rise above the rest of the song. For "Into The Infinite", Aeon Zen returns to a sound more like the first few songs. Even with this being the second song to feature Nils K. Rue, it's not quite the same as before - and like the second half of "Heavens Falling", Ayreon came to mind when I first heard this (think Flight Of The Migrator or maybe a bit of The Human Equation).

If it wasn't done so well, instrumental "Goddess" would probably be like more filler material, not sounding like anything else on the album (the closest might be "Hope's Echo Pt. 1"). A calm, quiet piano passage starts things off, joined by strings that threaten to drown it out before dropping away, allowing Hinks to play out the rest of the song the way he started off.Simple, but effective.

With over twelve minutes to work with, "The Demise Of The Fifth Sun" ends the album on a very strong note. The oldest of the songs (according to an interview I found), this song is one that more people should be able to connect with, sounding more like some of the usual suspects in progdom (Dream Theater, Symphony X) than the rest of the album - which isn't a bad thing at all. Elyes' voice seems a perfect match for this song, a bit heavier and more aggressive than anything else up to this point, including "Time Divine" or "Into The Infinite", which come close. Hinks provides more of his growled vocals than on the others and gets a chance to unleash more of what he's capable of musically. This one easily became the most played song from the album.

That Hinks and Musto came up with an album like this is impressive enough on its own, but the collection of guests helps nudge this first offering into different territory. This isn't a concept album with separate roles for an ensemble cast to fill, so having multiple singers throughout the album may make it hard to get into this album at first, but given enough time it becomes less of an issue. There isn't a single distinct sound to Aeon Zen, but thankfully, it's not eleven songs that sound nothing like each other being bundled together. It's an interesting album that shows a lot of potential and I am already looking forward to the second Aeon Zen release in the Fall 2010.