Heaven's Cry
Primal Power Addiction
8.2
I should first offer my apologies to DVS and Heavens Cry. I am apologizing because I got this album for review and not a slightly more impartial objective reviewer. The reason for the apology is this; this is obviously good music to someone somewhere, just not me, and maybe not this site. To give you some idea how ‘not my thing’ this is, can’t even think of any bands I have possibly heard to compare it to. Tech heavy, pompous Prog metal, that could be (if I had heard them more) be Rush (Heaven’s Cry are also Canadian) meets Dream Theater, then again that may be way off. It's very jazzy, cheesy, bass picking, convoluted power prog metal. (Go with me here I’m really struggling). Reviewing this is like trying to describe getting your first blowjob - what the fuck do you compare it to? There’s no doubt there is some musical talent on display here, and unlike my former DVS experience (Ashes to Ashes), you can at least appreciate the abilities of the band; all top notch musicians. For you as musically ignorant as myself, Heavens Cry might make me the Prog Rock equivalent to Theory In Practice (the only possible analogy I can come up with using my limited musical avenues). Every song is a calculated foray into progressive, technical expertise, although often at the expense of catchiness. I’ve always thought this kind of music was more to display the musicians than memorable songwriting. There’s a couple of softer respites to the orchestrated flourishes in the form of “Remembrance” and “The Inner Stream Remains”, but the focus of the album is the up tempo, constantly shifting musical paradigms of tracks like “2k Awe”, “Komma" and “Waves”. The only thing I can safely say I have ever owned in my album collection that might be similar is Watchtower, and that was years ago. My worthless mutterings aside the liquid, stuttering style of the music and the usual crisp vocals are certainly attention getting, and even though I have no idea what I’m talking about, there’s no doubt this is a superb example of the genre, that fans of Prog metal no doubt already own. I can at least comment on the cool cover of Midnight Oil’s 'Beds are Burning', certainly an interesting take on a classic song. Again, sincerest apologies to all parties for this sorry attempt at a review. I just can’t go into detail about something I know nothing about so just look at the scores. This review sucks, where’s that Leng Tche album?
