Gotta say that I found this to be their best to date, and that was on the first listen. I personally don't feel like they're sacrificing anything melodically, in fact, I think they're one of the few prog bands that are successful at writing quirky stuff and fantastic lines while balancing them out. One of the things I love about DT and melody, was that just about every song has one or two melodies that feel as if... You had always had that melody like, laying dormant somewhere in your brain, like the 2nd riff in Erotomania or the line that drives the solo section in Constant Motion (or since we're talking Haken, the riff that comes after the Streams reprise in Celestial Elixir), and then when you hear it, it's like the intervals arranged themselves and it catches you. Every time I played DT with one of my friends, he would always claim to have recognized a section from something else and accuse them of stealing it. I've always felt like Haken was one of those bands that consistently writes melodies like that, the quality of which is so great that it makes you think, "Wow, how has this not been in another song yet?". So when they release an album that meshes both of my favorite components of theirs throughout the entire album, how can I not fall in love with it?
Ross's voice seems to have improved a LOT, and he had already improved a lot going from Aquarius to Visions. Honestly speaking, his high notes used to irk me for some reason, but his falsetto is one of my favorite things from the album. Already excited for what he'll be doing on the 4th album (hoping there are more harmonies as well)!
One thing that I noted was that, though it's definitely more out there, has really complex synchronization, and contains a lot of creative and unexpected additives, it felt less uber-technical. There's still a crazy amount of interesting stuff going on, there aren't any arthritic instrumental sections that go on for too long or are there for the sake of being there/showing off. No song goes on for too long (or so I believe), and despite the crazy stuff, there's nothing on there that you feel like you'll have to explain away in the case of a shitty colleague (well, maybe Cockroach King, not many people will expect something so Elfman-esque to mesh with jazz and metal).
Also, would like to say that Ray Hearne is phenomenal throughout the album.
So yeah, really loving it. Atlas Stone, Falling Back to Earth, Because It's There, and In Memoriam are all top tier, and CK rules!
Topic: The Haken thread v. Restoration (Read 418567 times)
