Mind's Eye: A Gentleman's Hurricane

To me Mind's Eye has always been one of those progressive bands who have consistently released solid albums; the only thing their catalog missed was a truly monster record from start to finish. With their previous output Walking on H2O, however, they started to show signs for really great things to come, and finally they have put out their magnum opus: A Gentleman's Hurricane.

Based on a storyline akin to that of Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime and perhaps also Dream Theater's Scenes from a Memory in that it deals with themes like murder, religion, and tragedy, A Gentleman's Hurricane is easily their most realized and complex work to date. For starters, the production of the band's brainchild Daniel Flores is mesmerizing, emphasizing numerous textures, thick soundscapes, and a remarkable mixing job. Daniel Flores, besides playing all drums and keyboards on the CD, is also responsible for the beautiful harmony vocals and the songwriting of pretty much the whole record. There are a few tracks he co-wrote with guitarist/bassist Johan Niemann though; these tunes also add substantially to the diversity of the record along with several guest musicians.

While the band chose to stay in more of prog-rock-meets-metal territory on earlier releases, they have decided to embark on a heavier disc overall with their new album. The bone-crunching rhythm guitar work exhibited on most of the songs is stupifying indeed. Songs such as "Seven Days" and "AssasiNation", both of which are graced by cinematic passages, also allow acoustic breaks and varied sound elements to come through, the latter laden with an infectious chorus by Andreas Novak who shifts between manipulated parts to rousing melodic sections in the blink of an eye. This album is his pinnacle from a performance standpoint, as he opts for as many vocal stylings as this record would allow, from the searing screams on "Feed My Revolver" to the more vocal-based "Chaos Unleashed" (complete with an 80's Rush-like synth arrangement), and the atmospherically dense "Ashes to Ashes (In Land Lullaby)", evoking Peter Gabriel's theatrical melody constructions post-Genesis and a terrific drum accompaniment by Flores to Novak's morose delivery. Also important is the dark vocalization of "Skin Crawl" -- those harmonies are gold.

Johan Niemann plays sledgehammer riffs on most of the album, reminding me of Henning Pauly's Frameshift project (think their second album). Niemann's melodic control and phrasing are also superior, as he successfully avoids falling into the trap of overdoing any of the instrumental parts. On the contrary, his soloing on the album is top-notch and very carefully planned. This album has some of the most amazing lead solos I've heard on a 2007 release. The killer guitar crescendo on the opener "Praying for Confession", a great piece laden with various sound collections (child's choir, footsteps, narration, creepy background noises, gorgeous synth voicings, et cetera), the utterly perfect melodic transition on "Chaos Unleashed", the godly guitar solo on the Threshold-like "Hell's Invitation", and the awe-inspiring playing on "Red Winter Sirens" are testimony to this guy's skills. If you watch the making-of video that comes together with this album, you'll see he nails the solo in one take, after Flores' instruction. He's not just the amazing bass player of Therion, but also a great guitar player and one of the best studio musicians as Flores claims. His rampaging bass work that stomps upon the recurring synth melody at the end is simply stunning.

Also note the dramatic duet "The Hour of Need", featuring female vocalist Mia Coldheart over moody synths; the superbly arranged "Graveyard Hands", littered with gentle flute melodies, a reverb-filled guitar solo that is emotionally draining, and marching drum syncopation. On the ten-minute "Pandora's Musical Box", the whole album is sort of summarised through a mix of leviathan guitar riffery, dismal acoustic guitars, excellent vocals, and Flores' atmospheric keyboards floating across the whole thing. It concludes with the same child's choir that opens the album, maintaining its unity.

The packaging of the album is superb too. It comes with a DVD documenting the making of the album and thus proving how terribly underrated an artist Daniel Flores is. There is also an interesting video of "Feed My Revolver", featuring wonderful animations and an intriguing story which fits the concept of the album.

With a successful array of guest artists personifying the characters, a thought-provoking concept, excellent production, great arwork by Mattias Noren, and on top of all killer songwriting, A Gentleman's Hurricane is one of the most essential progressive metal albums of the year.

Track Listing

1. Praying for Confession
2. Seven Days
3. AssassiNation
4. Chaos Unleashed
5. Hell's Invitation
6. Feed My Revolver
7. Ashes to Ashes (In Land Lullaby)
8. The Hour of Need
9. Red Winter Sirens
10. Skin Crawl
11. Graveyard Hands
12. Say Goodnight
13. Pandora's Musical Box

Added: December 30th 2007
Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score:
Related Link: Mind's Eye website
Hits: 8202
Language: english

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