From Australia comes progressive metal act Voyager, and their latest release for Sensory Records is titled The Meaning of I. This is actually their fourth album overall, and you can certainly tell that the band have their stuff together here, as The Meaning of I is a classy, powerful collection of prog-metal songs long on expert musicianship, memorable songs, and soaring melodies.
The striking artwork on the digipack is the first thing that hits you here, and once you pop the CD into your player, the 'wow' factor keeps going. "Momentary Relapse of Pain" kicks things off in grand fashion, a tune with plenty of intricate, heavy riffs but also boatloads of melody, prog-rock styled keyboards, and the soaring vocals from keyboard player & singer Danny Estrin. On "Seize the Day", the listener is treated to some addicting melodies and commanding keyboard arrangements, while "Broken" features tons of monstrous grooves and some killer guitar riffs from Scott Kay & Simone Dow. The title track is a sizzling tour-de-force of progressive metal fury, featuring dazzingly complex passages, and the gothic tinged "Iron Dream" is a fitting tribute to late Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele. Another stellar track here is the 80's inspired "Fire of the Times", which has a slight early Fates Warning/Dream Theater influence. Voyager stray a bit from other prog-metal acts as there are no long epic tracks here, just plenty of extremely solid songs in the 4-5 minute range, but they still manage to pack a lot into these tracks.
The Meaning of I is another winner from the band and Sensory, so if you are a progressive metal fan this one needs to be on your immediate radar. There's no reason Voyager shouldn't be a much talked about band in the genre after this one. If your tastes include the likes of Anubis Gate, Nevermore, Circus Maximus, Vanden Plas, Scar Symmetry, and Dream Theater, you'll find lots to love here.
Track Listing
1. Momentary Relapse Of Pain
2. Stare Into The Night
3. Seize The Day
4. Broken
5. The Pensive Disarray
6. He Will Remain
7. The Meaning Of I
8. Iron Dream (In Memoriam: Peter Steele)
9. Feuer Meiner Zeit
10. Fire Of The Times
11. She Takes Me (Into The Morning Light)
12. It's Time To Know
13. Are You Shaded?