ELEMENTS

Thoughts Factory is a progressive metal band that was formed in Germany in 2008 by keyboardist Sven Schornstein and vocalist Marcus Becker. Over the years to come, the band slowly assembled into a full progressive metal band. In 2012, they were ready to start recording their first album and by 2014, they were touring and supporting "Haken" in Germany and Austria. New vocalist Cornelius Wurth joined in 2016 bringing in a much wider range.

In January of 2020, the band was finally ready to release their sophomore album called "Elements" with the line up of Sven Schornstein on keys, Bernd Schonegge on bass, Chris Maldener on drums, Markus Wittman on guitars and Cornelius Wurth on vocals and guitars. Their new album is once again a concept story that follows a young man dealing with the emotional stages he goes through as he matures.

The music has firm roots in both metal and progressive rock, with heavy guitar riffs that have some tricky meters and better than average instrumental work, with a slight level of complexity that raises the music above the norm, but still manages to be accessible. The lead singer definitely does have a respectable range, but also has a heavy accent that is noticeable on some of the softer passages. This is noticeable right away on the first track "Mind Odyssey", which brings in the vocalist in a soft passage. But this soon intensifies as some very impressive metal riffs come in and puts the music into motion.

As you continue through the tracks, you will notice a nice balance between heavy guitar and keys and find that the music itself is quite impressive. The instrumental "Frozen Planet" especially sticks out as being a nice, dynamic track that travels through several different emotions, soft to loud and complex enough to keep progressive lovers happy. This is also quite apparent on "Dawn Pt. 1" which also shows off the emotional range of the lead singer and the amazing talent of guitarist Wittman. These are both impressive progressive metal tracks that prove that the band can be up there with the best of them. The problem is that most of the other tracks are great, but don't do anything to make the band push any boundaries or challenge the listener, it is pretty much what you come to expect from the many progressive metal bands that are out there. In other words, other than those few stellar tracks, the band just doesn't make itself stand out, though they definitely could if they could find a way to rise above the norm.

There are a few places where they add in little touches of symphonic styles and even venture into a neo-prog style, but they never really explore those inclinations. The band is obviously talented and they prove that from time to time. But when all is finished, nothing really stands out. Any of these tracks could be too similar to any of the other many progressive metal bands already out there. In such a competitive sub-genre, a band needs to do something that makes them different somehow. However, the album is enjoyable enough and those that love their prog heavy with guitar riffs and swashes of keyboards, then you will enjoy this album.