Norway's Magic Pie are back with their 6th album, Maestro, which comes six years after 2019's Fragments of the 5th Element, creating one of their longest breaks between album releases. The wait was absolutely worth it however, as the band's blend of progressive rock, progressive metal, and hard rock is stamped all over this new opus.
"Opus Imperfectus Pt. 1-The Missing Chord" opens up with a searing Dream Theater-styled prog metal blast of furious complexity, and then the familiar sounds of Magic Pie's melodic, soaring progressive rock comes into play. Wonderful, emotional vocals, nice use of keys, loads of atmosphere, then it gets darker and heavier, as elements of Kansas and Deep Purple make their appearance, highlighted by a moody electric piano solo...excellent track to open the album.
It's followed by "By the Smokers Pole", which is more of an atmospheric, slightly bluesy number with a great guitar solo.
Next up is "Name It To Tame It", a roaring hard rocker with a great groove, snarling riffs and keys, and a memorable chorus. it's hard to resist the blazing guitar solo and wacky arrangement that follows, then another sizzling solo with wah-wah...ultimately, it's a tremendous track and might be my favorite song on the album.
As we get deeper into the album, you have "Kiddo", which is more of a symphonic heavy prog track, but contains some nice Pink Floyd-styled keyboard parts. It does crank up in spots, which is what I always loved about this band in that they never hide their heavy side.
"Someone Else's Wannabe" is a very catchy and upbeat track with strong vocals, a killer Hammond solo, and then followed by a rip-roaring guitar/keys exchange. Great stuff.
"Everyday Hero" is the album's straightforward rocker, sounds like Deep Purple in spots, and the vocals even have an Ian Gillan sound to them at times.
Closing things out is "Opus Imperfectus Pt. 2- Maestro, and it's interesting how they open and close the album with this epic two-parter. This one has some amazing vocal harmonies, '70s styled prog keys, but also some driving heavy riffs. Love the emotional guitar solo, and those who love Dream Theater's John Petrucci will totally dig Kim Stenberg's playing here.
Overall, another amazing album from Magic Pie, and could very well rank among their best. It's also another contender for prog album of the year here in 2025!
Track Listing
1) Opus Imperfectus Pt. 1-The Missing Chord
2)By the Smokers Pole
3) Name It to Tame It
4)Kiddo
5) Someone Else's Wannabe
6)Everyday Hero
7) Opus Imperectus Pt. 2- Maestro
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