Parry, Ian: Consortium Project - Children of Tomorrow

Children of Tomorrow is the fourth part of Ian Parry's remarkable Consortium Project, released in the US through ProgRock Records. After the highly successful Terra Incognita in 2003, many of his fans thought that it would be the end of the three-part concept, but Parry has now come up with a new part with his long-time friend Joshua Dutrieux from Elegy and new drummer Ivar de Graaf, formerly of Within Temptation.

As with the other albums, there are lots of guests on the CD, one of which is Winter's Bane guitarist Lou St.Paul who plays a great solo. There are also numerous female singers, choirs, another guitar player called Niels Vejylt and bassist Marcel van der Zwam. The main guitar player in the project, however, is Henk van der Laars who employs an unusually heavy rhythm workout through most of the songs, lending them a slightly Frameshift kind of aggression. One song of that ilk is "Exodus", with its fierce rhythm guitars and slightly Middle Eastern flavoured melodic theme.

Ian Parry also delivers his most aggressive style in a long time. The opener "A Sign of the Times" and "Enigma" are among his heaviest performances, both filled with a great deal of orchestral elements and a bludgeoning guitar onslaught. Both songs also feature some spoken words; the former contains some cool choir accompaniment to contrast Parry's singing. The latter, on the other hand, besides retaining its somewhat Middle Eastern texture (perhaps due to the subject matter which deals with Cold War), features a shredding guitar solo that is more in the league of later day Symphony X than the previous Consortium Project albums.

Among the standout tracks are "Nowhere Fast" and "Mastermind", a track that highlights Parry's instantly recognisable vibrato. This one is a fast-paced number that relies on heavy use of double bass drums, slow piano sections, and melodic guitar work, while "Nowhere Fast" boasts eerie percussion rhythms buried under the otherwise corrosive rhythms and a fine duet between Parry and one of the female guests.

"Made in Heaven" and "Let the Wind Carry You Home", despite being tracks six and seven, are also the diametric opposites on the album, as one of them is the sickest, most aggressive track on the CD. It is built around an ever-shifting time signature with lots of distorted guitar and keyboard sounds while the other one is the album's laidback ballad, imbued with a beautiful classical arrangement and folky acoustic instruments.

Overall Children of Tomorrow is yet another effort from Ian Parry that features plenty of symphonic sections, lots of heavy guitar and bass work, swift keyboard explorations, and strong, unique vocals. It is not the best Consortium Project album, but it is certainly the heaviest. Those who were looking for a really heavy statement from Parry should be pleased with this one.

Let's wait and see how the Elegy reunion with Parry will work out.

Track Listing

1. A Sign of the Times
2. Nowhere Fast
3. Neverland
4. Shadows
5. Exodus
6. Made in Heaven
7. Let the Wind Carry You Home
8. Enigma
9. Mastermind
10. Path of Destruction
11. Children of Tomorrow

Added: October 29th 2007
Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score:
Related Link: Ian Parry website
Hits: 3684
Language: english

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