Seventh
Wonder's
most recent album "Mercy Falls" hit me straight in solar plexus and I am still
recovering from that blow. Seventh Wonder is returning to a more song
orientated album without giving in on complexity and diversity. There are still
lots of room for the finer details, brilliant melodic passages and many
surprising twists and turns.
"The Great
Escape" might not have the small bits and pieces tying the album together but it
possesses the same depth and eye for details. This album has classic written all
of it and this is first class all the way, from the production - perfectly
balanced and crystal clear, thru the seven brilliantly written progressive metal
songs that all have a lot of power, delivered by a technical accomplished and
very tight band.
But once
more I must say that Tommy Karevik steals the light! His vocal performances on
this album and "Mercy Falls" are out-of-this world, and he gives me the chills
more than once on this album; the control and stamina is quite simply amazing.
His performance is once more top notch, and I am becoming more and more
impressed with his qualities, he goes from strength to strength with Seventh
Wonder, and the sky is the limit for him. But I won't take anything away
from the rest of the band; this is a complete band effort where every piece is
equally important and they do all deliver.
All seven
songs hits the bulls-eye and they are all of the highest calibre, but off course
the one standing out is the 30 minutes epic title track, where the band shows
all their qualities and is firing on all cylinders, simply the best composition
of 2010.
Seventh
Wonder
has done what I thought would be impossible, they've recorded an album that is
equally as good as "Mercy Falls", and shows the competition that the road to the
progressive power metal Olympus goes through Sweden. A very strong contender for
album of the year, and Seventh Wonder has once more hit me where it
hurts...
Brilliant!
