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Rating: To review this metal opera, I can only begin by mentioning its illustrious cast of singers and musicians: On the microphone: Tobias Sammet; Michael Kiske; Kai Hansen; David DeFeis, André Matos, Bob Catley; Oliver Hartmann; Sharon Den Adel, Rob Rock; Ralf Zdiarstek. Instrumentalists: Henjo Richter; Markus Grosskopf; Alex Holzwart, Eric Singer, Norman Meiritz; Frank Tischer; Timo Tolkki; Jens Ludwig.
The presence of some of the most unrivaled vocalists in metal history behind the microphone should already trigger an automatic purchase, despite the unfair assignment of parts: Hartmann has no more than two verses, sublime indeed, while the majority goes to the creator of the Concept (Tobias Sammet); without wanting to take anything away from him, he is a monster in the high notes, and we won't hear many of those.
"The Seven Angels" opens the album with a long ecclesiastical intro, featuring Hartmann, Kiske, Rob Rock, Sammet, Hansen, and Matos. We also have strings in the background. A spectacular track with highly inspired lyrics, stretching up to a quarter of an hour.
"No Return" kicks off the power metric with wild bass and guitar, dragged vocal lines entrusted to Sammet and Kiske, excessively frequent chorus.
"The Looking Glass" proceeds identically, lightened in the background, with Sammet and Catley on the microphone. Chorus still intrusive. Good solo guitar passages.
"In Quest For" resumes with the piano, again the Catley-Sammet duo, a slow song with beautiful verses. The concept is akin to "The Lord of the Rings," with a monk instead of an elf, seals instead of a ring, and an eastern philosophical nuance.
"The Final Sacrifice" advances with a rougher metal, Sammet's performance is finally amazing, and DeFeis is pretty good too (a bit raspy). In my opinion, this track is the best of the album.
Rob Rock takes the microphone again on "Neverland," alongside the ever-present Sammet and choirs. The choirs then are what give the album its unique impression, more ecclesiastical than the classic power.
"Anywhere," the second slow track, very inspired in the rhyming refrain, deals with themes such as hope, future, and friendship.
The following tracks restore the collective complex on the microphone (where the excellent Zdiarstek debuts, less known, but in my opinion the best), along with the high frequencies.
The last track presents the enchanting Sharon Den Adel for no more than a verse (another blunder by Sammet), then maintains the coordinates.
For many reasons, this album should be sacred for metal lovers, but for others, not so much, including the low emphasis on microphone rotations in my view. It is also true that some of the singers have a very similar tone, but those in the role of contralto do not particularly stand out. The same problem that the Ayreon project had, in my judgment. Anyway, hats off to this work by Sammet, who put all his goodwill into it, with a decent result.
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