Weekly Dose of Prog: Ciccada - A Child In The Mirror

New weekly segment (not something I usually do, I'm trying new things) dedicated to the genre of progressive rock and metal. This blog has been mostly about doom and stoner, but I love prog music so I'm going to try and make some time for this genre as well:

I was searching through Prog Archives and I discovered their '2010 Top Albums' page (now altered to '2010-11 Top Albums'). Being a fan of progressive music and not really having too much modern prog in my collection, I decided to listen to a few of the best prog albums of 2010, so voted by the folks at Prog Archives. The first album is in Italian, so I skipped right over it, moving on to Haken and Ciccada in the number two and three locations, respectively (Also bands of note: Hypnos 69 is in the number four spot, Amplifier in fourteen, Samsara Blues Experiment at sixty-two, Agalloch at eighty-seven, and Cloudkicker at the ninety-eighth location). So I quickly scooped up these two albums, figuring that I deserve some damn good progressive rock and metal in my life. And so, I'm writing reviews about both of them; this one being about A Child In The Mirror by Ciccada.
Ciccada plays a symphonic-prog that is actually quite refreshing. In an era where there are so many cookie-cutter acts and bands that do nothing but hedge to their idols, it's nice to see someone out there trying new things. They incorporate many instruments into their sound, xylophone, clarinet, flute, and I'm sure some more that I was unable to pull from the music. The vocals are female, which gives the whole record a haunting beauty that pairs well with the alternative instruments quite well. They merge the classic style of progressive rock (King Crimson, Gentle Giant, etc) with a Jethro Tull-esq baroque melody, and each song that is in English (there are a couple that are in Greek) are wonderful.

New Album: Rhapsody of Fire - The Cold Embrace Of Fear (EP)

Originally, I assigned the newest Rhapsody of Fire album to The Pyro (as well as their previous release The Frozen Tears Of Angels), knowing that he likes symphonic metal and could do with a little bit more modern music in his repertoire. I still hope he does a write-up of the two albums as I would love to hear his take; but I just had to write about this one. About how simply bad it is.
For those who don't know, Rhapsody of Fire is a symphonic/power metal band who is known for grandiose albums and stories within. The first 'story' of The Emerald Sword Saga is explained throughout the first five albums, Legendary Tales (1997) to Power of the Dragonflame (2002), and began a new tale, The Dark Secret Saga, with the album Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret (2004), leading to the present. During this era they were simply known as Rhapsody, but after Symphony of Enchanted Lands II they changed to Rhapsody of Fire, due to a trademark issue. They continue under this new moniker, building bigger and bigger sounds and stories, much to the love of their fans.

Retrospective: Avantasia (Part 2)

Continuing from the last installment of the Avantasia Retrospective:

• Lost In Space: Part 1 EP and Part 2 EP (2007)

Lost In Space are another pair of releases in close succession by the band Avantasia. These two are not as closely-entwined as The Metal Opera was. They are collections of new songs to be released on the upcoming (at the time) album, The Scarecrow, cover songs, and some variations of songs previously released. Most of the covers are pretty good, with the ABBA and Freddie Mercury songs taking the limelight, but again as will most singles and EPs, you should wait for the full-length album to hear most of these songs. One peculiar detail is that both EPs contain the exact same title track - no variation on recording or length, the exact same song. This to me seems like a bit of a cop-out/spit in the face to anyone willing to purchase these two EPs. But seeing as I didn't, I can't really complain. If you're a mega-fan of Avantasia then go pick up these EPs, the variations in songs and the covers make it worth it. If you're not a Avantasia-head then just stick with acquiring the covers, and wait to get The Scarecrow.

Retrospective: Avantasia (Part 1)

I was scrolling through my music library last week (over 35,000 songs and counting) looking for something I've heard before but not in a long time and I stumbled upon Avantasia. About two years ago I whipped my hard drive clean and had to re-upload all of my music (from my external) which reset all of the song listen counters. From that time I have not listened to any Avantasia except their newest release, The Scarecrow. I decided to rectify this situation and gave the entire discography a listen.

The interesting thing about Avantasia is that there is only one real member of the band, Tobias Sammet, who plays various instruments and the majority of the vocals for all the releases. This requires Avantasia to have an ever-revolving cast of players, with upwards of more than ten vocalists for each album, with several different session instrumentalists - often times not for more than one song. It gives the group a very unique feel and tendency into the unknown.

One problem I have with this group, which is a problem I have with almost all the 'Project Bands' (bands with no real set cast or crew) is that every album is significantly different than the one before it. Sometimes this works, The Metal Operas are pretty damn good, and sometimes this doesn't, The next full-length release, The Scarecrow, sounds like a completely different band, it all is seemingly random.