BOOK OF THE DEAD

I've been checking out this album a number of times lately and feel ready for the review now. At this moment this album is right in the middle between three and four stars (3,52) and that's just about where my thoughts about it are as well. On itself this album should be a classic where the line up of musicians is concerned but I have a bit of a problem with the compositions and also the execution.

Which is strange because the execution is the part where you would expect excellency but instead it's all a bit underwhelmimg for me. It already shows with the epical track which should be my absolute favorite when you realize I'm an epic freak but I'm afraid it's not. Infinite Voyage is a track full of guitar passages (I prefer this word here to solos because a guitar solo is supposed to be a memorable piece of music, at least in my book) and these passages are mainly my problem with this track. Alan Holdsworth is a famous and no doubt great guitarist but his style doesn't work for me one bit. It sounds a bit messy what he's doing here and I have to admit I'm not very familiar with his usual style but if he always plays like this then I'll pass with his other performances through the years. I like the smooth and clear guitar style of Nick Barrett, Gary Chandler or John Mitchell but this style is totally different. I'm willing to believe there are lots of fans of this style but not me. It even annoys me a bit listening to it so that explains my problem with this epic. There are also some keyboard passages on the track and they are much more impressive to me. Another striking feature of Infinite Voyage is the break almost exactly half way the epic which reminds me of Driver's Seat by TFK and Trick of the Mind by Magic Pie. All in all a track I have very mixed feelings about but can give no more than 3,5* all things considered.

Next one, Mirror to the Spirits, is more impressive to me. It's a catchy song that gets stuck in your mind in a positive way and this one is my highlight of the album. 3,75*.

Third track is called The Edge of Light and is just about as hard to digest as the opening epic. Nothing really great here and forgettable therefore. 3,25*.

Fourth song is called Aten (Window of Appearences) and is an ambient instrumental track. It all sounds a bit mysterious creating a sort of old Egyptian feel. Nice. 3,5*.

Last one (Cloak of Antiquity) is more like third track and has the same impact on me. 3,25*.

The overall feeling about this album is that it could and should have been better. It's a good/very good album though but not excellent and that's why I will keep the rating limited to three stars.