Seventh Wonder - Tiara [2018]Shit, I didn't even recognize that this was a concept album until I paid a bit more attention to it leading up to PPUSA '19. I mean, it's a bit of an unexpected story from the band - an alien race called the Everones are unimpressed by the human race and are set to bring judgment upon them. A young girl named Tiara, the only human who can understand messages the aliens are sending is chosen to travel into space to communicate with the aliens, in an attempt to save humanity. That storyline almost seems plagiarized a bit from a segment of Kevin Anderson's
Saga of the Seven Suns - maybe it is, maybe it isn't ... doesn't matter really. This finished 3rd as my 2018 AOTY, and I had to slide it in on this list.
It was 8 long years between SW albums, with Tommy focusing more on Kamelot, but this was a great return to form - giving him a more proggy, slightly less power/symphonic outlet. This is very polished melodic/prog-rock with symphonic overtones and great vocals (yes, I know Seventh Wonder are often classed as prog metal, but while this is a great album, prog metal it isn't). Tommy Karevik is one of the best frontmen around, and I find he is better suited to the music and style of Seventh Wonder vs Kamelot. After the opening seque track, the album delivers 12 incredible songs one right after another, with lots of highs, and every track 5* for my ears. The below "fave" track is kinda out of place in the theme and style of the album as a whole, but I love it none-the-less... and fuck was it fun as hell when they performed it at PPUSA.
Fave Song -
By The Light of the Funeral Pyres