OK, just finished up..
Chaos- Reminds me a bit of Steve Vai era Alcatrazz. Kind of Blackmoreish in some bits and Malmsteenish in others.. I'm liking this. We are off to a good start!
Dawn Of A Million Souls- I am on record that I find Russell Allen a bit cold, and I'm not a huge fan. But here he sounds amazing. I love this style of his singing. I am not on board with his more gruff style. This was an unexpected surprise. Thankfully Damian Wilson isn't singing leads though. He blows! This song is excellent. Even the keyboardy thing four minutes in is nicely orchestrated. Such tasteful vocals by Allen and playing by Romeo. I'd like Symphony X a lot more if they did it like this.
Journey On The Waves Of Time- I'm also on record of not being a huge Ralf Scheepers guy either. But WTF, he sounds amazing here. I don't even mind the extended keyboard solo though. I like the unison with the guitar coming out of it.
To The Quasar-What a nice surprise seeing Andi Deris involved. Takes a while to get going. Deris is pretty clean and very pleasant in the in the intro. I'm glad the song picks up though. While I appreciated the understated Russel Allen, I was hoping to get a little more from Andi. He is also quite understated here. What does that mean for Bruce Dickinson? The song is ok. Seems like a transitional piece.
Into The Black Hole-Bruce is amazing here! And I'm not even 3 minutes in. Interesting song. Bruce kills the entire time. Great performance. But honestly, I'd need a vocalist that I'm fond of the get me through a ten and a half minute mid tempo track. Still he rescues it and makes it fantastic. The song ends quite powerfully.
Through The Wormhole-Ooh Fabio Lione..I like him. Uptempo. I need something uptempo after the last two songs. Gary Wehrkamp is awesome here.
Out Of The White Hole- Somehow Arjen got Timo to not sound so annoying. Cool Deep Purple vibe.
But it develops into so much more in the middle section.
To The Solar System-Who the hell is Robert Soeterboek? This track takes a while to get going. But it brightens up halfway through and salvages itself. But hopefully it's just setting up a strong closer.
The New Migrator-The slow spacey intro actually seems fitting. The song kicks in, but the verse is a bit underwhelming. The prechorus is promising, but this song needs an epic chorus, and it never really gets close. The guitar solo is cool though. Kind of a disappointing ender, honestly. KInd of an odd way to end a "double" album.
Wow, the first three songs were outstanding. But then musically, it starts to do downhill after that. I mean not in a wicked bad way, but it just never keeps the tempo or excitement that the beginning of the album brings. The Deris song is a missed opportunity IMO. He's fearless.
The Bruce track is excellent, and doesn't at all feel like ten minutes. But let's be honest..Bruce carries it.
I like how Arjen got both Allen and Timo to sound really pleasant.
But those final two songs were really disappointing.
I would like to add that Ed Warby's drumming is excellent here. I've never heard of him before.
All in all, I had an awesome listen. I'm going to drop the needle on the first Migrator album.
Thanks!