GOD'S EQUATION

Certainly one of the better and more interesting melodic power metal acts to emerge from Europe in recent years, Pagan's Mind's 2007 album 'God's Equation' would witness the band getting more attention than ever. Meshing a progressive sensibility with some catchy songwriting, great production values and an impressive performance, the band has made quite a strong album here, worth quite a few enjoyable listens. However, the generally formulaic approach to the songs here can make the album wear thin for someone looking for a little more variety in the music.

While highly melodic music is often held a grudge against by metal and progressive music circles, 'God's Equation' does deliver a relatively well-balanced sound; amidst the catchy soaring hooks of singer Nils Rue, there are some heavy riffs, beautiful soloing and pleasant keyboard atmospherics to give the music the science fiction quality that it has had in the past with this band. In terms of the songwriting itself, some of the songs are weaker than the others, but there's generally some solid tact in regards to the writing of the music. While the flow is iffy at times, each song features great sections, with great hooks dominating the sound. With that having been said, anyone looking for a particularly heavy, progressive or technical album need not apply. The focus of the album here is always on the songwriting.

While the songwriting- particularly the incredible title track, and epic finale 'Osiris' Triumphant Return'- is at times really great and exemplary of the power metal genre itself, there is the feeling towards the second half of the album that the same tricks are still being used and recycled over again throughout the course of multiple songs. Most ideas work quite well (with some transitions between song sections being rough), the familiarity of the upbeat, triumphant sound does start getting old by the end of things. Luckily, a fantastic final track breaks the verse-chorus structure for a more complicated composition.

A very good progressive power metal album. While it can feel overproduced and a bit too one-tricked for a progressive metal album, 'God's Equation' is an intelligent album that marries melody and complexity in somewhat equal measure.

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