TRANSITUS

Review # 109.

Transitus is the new Rock opera by Ayreon, which, I pre-ordered a few months ago, in the red vinyl version, which also includes a comic book with the story, signed by Arjen. I guess because of that, a few days ago, I received an e-mail with a code for the digital version of the album. So, while I am waiting for my order to arrive, I had the chance to listen to the album before its original release.

Have in mind that my review (or my point of view if you like), is based on the 3-4 times that I listened to the album so far. Maybe in the future, I will change my mind for better or worse, but for the moment, I believe that it is a very enjoyable, well-crafted album, with lots of wonderful moments in it.

Once more, Arjen gathered around him a big number of musicians and singers, but some of the usual names are missing; but there are some "newcomers" instead, like for example, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, or Paul Manzi of Arena.

This time, Arjen Lucassen left aside his usual sci-fi themes, and created a dark story from the 1800's. Well, maybe the story is a bit cheesy, but we are not talking about a movie here, so that's not a problem. (For me at least).

Starting from the impressive and kind of gloomy intro (Fatum Horrificum), the story takes shape, as more and more characters are included in it. At the beginning of most songs, there is a narrator included, who gives us information about what is going to happen in the story, and this is something I really like. Let's not forget that this is not a simple album; it's a Rock Opera, with many characters and a plot, so we must somehow be informed of what's going on.

As I wrote on some of my older reviews, when it comes to Rock operas, I cannot separate the songs, because I see it as a whole puzzle with many pieces; and for that reason, I will not get into details for each song. Yes, there are some very good songs, and some others, maybe not so good ones, but each song serves its purpose I guess. To move the story further ahead.

Finishing this, I have to say that I am very pleased with my purchase, despite that it cost me double the price you will see in Ayreon's shop, because of the postal fee, but I am not regretting it at all, because this is a very enjoyable album for me. Give it a chance, it deserves it! My Rating: 4.0 stars

If there was an end-of-year list for "the most difficult albums to rate and review", then Transitus, Ayreon's 10th full-length release, would easily top the 2020 edition. This is because Transitus is so much more than just a music record that, depending on what aspect of the release one focuses on, the subjective experience (and how positively one feels about the whole thing) can be very different. This is not completely unusual for Arjen Lucassen - nearly all Ayreon's instalments are based on massive concepts that transcend the simple musical format - but I feel this time Arjen truly surpassed himself. To put things in perspective, Transitus was initially conceived as a movie, not as an Ayreon's album. However, things did not quite work out as planned, mainly due to the prohibitive financial costs that would have been necessary to pull off a high-quality project of such a scale, and so Transitus became simply a new release under the Ayreon's banner (although Arjen recently revealed to PROG magazine that the movie idea has not been completely put to rest yet). The unusual genesis of the album has inevitably colored its development and sound in quite a unique way. Hence, as a music album, Transitus is rather different from any other album released by Ayreon.

First of all, it is much lighter and rock-oriented than Ayreon's other recent releases. Musically, Transitus is closer to Ayreon's early rock operas such as The Final Experiment and Into the Electric Castle, with some added touches of dark ambient that brings to mind the mellower first part of The Universal Migrator project. The headbangable riffs and pounding drumming that have characterized nearly every Ayreon album in the past 20 years are nowhere to be found, and indeed Transitus is the first album since the very early days where we do not even find Arjen's loyal drummer Ed Warby, who is instead replaced by the more rock-oriented Juan van Emmerloot. In short, there is almost no prog metal on Transitus, but a lot of lighter (prog) rock.

Second, Transitus is a very vocal-driven album. Of course, this is something that can be said about nearly every Ayreon album, given that the use of (usually amazing) multiple vocalists who take centre stage in the songs is one of the trademarks of Ayreon's music. In this sense, Transitus is no exception, showcasing a stellar cast of singers, each one putting in superb performances (the cast includes Epica's Simone Simons, Kamelot's Tommy Karevik, Oceans of Slumber's Cammie Gilbert, Trillium's Amanda Somerville and Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, to name just a few). But on Transitus things have been really pushed to the extreme, to the point that the album sounds more like a musical than a conventional rock album. There is a very strong "Broadway" feel to this album that manifests itself in the exuberance and buoyancy of the music, in the frequent use of choral backing vocals, in the reprise of the same themes at various points in the album, and even in the way some singers actually act their parts at places rather than singing them (Simone Simons is a primary example of this). The choice of some of the singers also reflects the unusual musical direction of the project: according to Arjen, for instance, Paul Manzi (ex-Arena) was chosen partly because he is actually studying to become an actor. But the most conspicuous "Broadway" element in Transitus is without doubt the presence of a narrator (impersonated by the legendary Tom "Doctor Who" Baker) who introduces nearly every song of the album and helps push its story forward. The storyline also marks a departure from Ayreon's usual sci-fi themed concepts. The story takes place in the late 1800s and is centred on the cursed love story between Daniel (played by Tommy Karevik), a son of a rich aristocratic family, and Abby (played by Cammie Gilbert), a servant working for the family. The family is very unhappy about the romance between the two young lovers and this triggers a chain of catastrophic events that involve conspiracies, betrayal, murder, compassionate angels of deaths, and ghostly appearances, before the story reaches its (supernatural) happy ending. Arjen has always been a master at crafting these amazing stories that transport the listener to a parallel dimension, but I found Transitus's concept particularly fascinating and entertaining, partly because of its gothic undertones and partly because of its underlying message about the futility of class and race divisions. I also loved the idea of accompanying the album with a comic book (beautifully illustrated by Felix Vega), which gives more details about the "scenes" that are represented through the various songs. I thoroughly enjoyed the all-inclusive experience of sitting down for one hour and a half with the record, the lyrics and the comic book. It truly made me forget about my present for a while and transported me to the fantasy world described in the story.

This brings me to the central point I want to make in this review: Transitus is not just a music record, and it cannot be fully appreciated by only focusing on its musical content. Transitus is a more encompassing art form, akin to going to the theatre to watch a musical show. The comic book, the narrator, the sound effects, the acting ? they are all part of the package and contribute in equal amounts to the listener's experience. Granted, this means that Transitus may not be to anyone's liking (hence why Arjen initially did not want to release this as an Ayreon album, to avoid setting wrong expectations about what the project is truly about). Some may dislike the constant presence of the narrator, or the over-the-top acting/singing of some of the vocalists; others may find the music a bit too "safe" and vanilla (it's true: there are not so many surprises in terms of musical content, most things you hear here you can probably also find on other Ayreon's albums, and there are not even too many moments of epic musician showmanship). But I think that these elements all make sense when considered through the lens of the musical/movie experience. I find that the slightly tamer musical background (in comparison to Ayreon's other releases) is actually perfect as it does not distract too much from the main attraction of the project: the story enacted by the singers.

As a musical/movie experience, I genuinely enjoyed this, probably more than any other Ayreon's album (with the exception of my favorite record by Ayreon, Into the Electric Castle). One minor complaint I have about Transitus, though, is that the second disc is perhaps a tad too fragmented: with 13 songs crammed in 41 minutes (only slightly more than 3 minutes per song), I find the story stuttering a little bit in the second half, as there are too many changes of scene and too many different musical themes to properly sink in. In this sense, I find that the first disc is better constructed and more enjoyable, as the themes are given more space to grow on the listener.

To conclude, Transitus is different from your standard Ayreon's album, or from any conventional rock/metal album, for that matter. As a simple music record, it does not work so well: the narrator can be distracting, the music is not at the level of complexity and originality that Ayreon has accustomed us to, and there are probably even more over-the-top singing parts than ever. I can easily see why some people have criticized Transitus as a simple album release. The true grandiosity and magnificence of Transitus comes through only when appreciated as a more holistic art experience, which includes the comic book, the acting and, who knows, someday maybe even a movie to accompany the music. Transitus is not an album I would put on while I commute to work, or when I am multitasking. Transitus is an album that can only be fully appreciated when one sits down with a cup of tea and the comic book and lyrics sheets at hand, dims the lights and lets the storytelling begin. This is when Transitus becomes a truly captivating listening experience, and I am sure it will continue to do so for me for many times to come in the future.

[Originally posted on www.metal-archives.com]

AYREON released his last album at the start of the 2020 school year: An album divided into LP, CD and DVD, a BD booklet to explain the musical background a little, in short a lot of things to say that we are not dealing with a simple CD. "Transitus" is the strange dimension between heaven and hell, it is a well orchestrated, well put together rock opera where the titles are linked one after the other; no big titles like on '' into the electric castle '', no radio-edit titles like on '' the final experiment '', but a bit of both! Okay, I'm telling you about these two major albums because it sits between them, ie much better than what Sir Arjen released to us previously. Singers like Simone Simons from Epica, Tommy Karevik from Kamelot, Cammie Gilbert from Oceans of Slumber, Amanda Somerville from Trillium, Paul Manzi from Arena and Dee Snider from Twisted Sister, to name a few - some, who play an opera piece that should have been filmed! A "Doctor Who" narrator Tom Baker who introduces the titles of the album, which takes the story forward to the late 1800s (yes that changes usual sci-fi stories!), Centered on the cursed love story between Daniel, played by Tommy, a son of a wealthy aristocratic family, and Abby, played by Cammie, a servant working for the family. The story will trigger catastrophic events which are therefore transcribed in this prog universe; titles which find their continuity over the plot and which pass much better than the test of DREAM THEATER with "the astonishing" in my opinion. Here, the 2 CDs go by very quickly, keep you going despite a few well-calibrated repetitions (after more than 25 years it is also a little logical!), And for those who still doubt, immersing themselves in them for 80 minutes is well worth a film shoot. Arjen never ceases to amaze in his time vessel.

Rather odd CD in the repertoire of Ayreon. Whereas usually firmly rooted in progressive metal, this album is more a cross-over between "musical" and '80's hard rock. And it's a big disappointment. The story-telling by Tom Baker takes up way too much space, often destroying the pace of the album. Also, the songs are short and there is hardly any song development, which you typically would find in the progressive genre; this time, no epics. There are some nice parts here and there but each time when you think: now we're getting somewhere - whoosh, next track. The vocals have the typical, theatric presentation that one associates with musicals; this is probably just me, but it I found it hard to relate with the characters, which is difficult to begin with, in view of the, I have to say it, extremely boring story. Speaking of the vocals (which are are quite in front of the mix, by the way) - no Anneke van Giersbergen this time. This is SO wrong. Also wrong: super-drummer Ad Warby is sadly missing. Arjen: what happened? I'm a big fan of Arjen and his last concert in Tilburg (Into the Electric Castle) was nothing short of fantastic, but I really hope they skip this album in the next show. I really wanted to like this album, but for me, it doesn't work. Sadly.