NEW WORLD

This is an album that grates as much as it impresses. IOEarth seem like the heirs apparent to bands that heavy prog bands that seem to have peaked about a decade ago--like MAGENTA, IONA, EPICA, WITHIN TEMPTATION, and NIGHTWISH (though all four of the afore-mentioned bands continue to produce high quality albums). What grates me is the frequent use of sudden Jeckyll and Hyde transformations. Sultry, hypnotic melodic passages suddenly become loud, abrasive, over-the-top head-banging sections and then just as quickly fall back to beautiful passages full of interesting nuance and subtlety. The opening song is the perfect illustration of this: wonderful singing by Linda Odinsen and sensitive, delicate sax/reed play by Luke Shingler are offset by power metal shredding and Norse chanting. The Jeckyllish Magenta/Iona comparisons are not far out of line but, then, neither are the Hyde Epica/Within Temptation/Nightwish ones. For me, this is frustrating. I really don't enjoy the pendulous swings back and forth between tender and in-your-face.. Are the compositions good? Are the performances top caliber? Yes, by all means they are. I cannot fault any of the musicians--they are a great band. The compositional style is just not my cup of tea. As with all IOEarth albums I own so far (the first and third--I rated the second "Moments" from its progstreaming appearance), I rarely connect with an entire song. I am more prone to like parts and passages or individual performances in each. Such is still the case with New World.

"Trance" (5:10) (8/10), "New World Suite" (7:16) (8/10), "Body and Soul" (7:04) (8/10), "Morning" (8:38) (8/10), and "New World" (8:59) (8/10) are all strong four star songs. "Fade to Grey" (9:06) (9/10) and "Dreams" are a step above--though, like the song "Smoky Wood" on their debut release, the seductive song, "Dreams" (5:49) (9/10), doesn't even feel like it's the same band.

Another "problem" I have with IOEarth releases is that they are so long! Another two-disc release makes for a long and arduous task to actually hear and get to know all of the music (which is only fair when reviewing an album, right?) I think my brain and butt are conditioned to 45-50 minute listening tolerances.

Four stars for another wildly enigmatic album from IOEarth. Check it out so you can decide for yourself.