jdlech

The very first song, Bellatrix, sounds like it was done for Iron Maiden minus one guitar and vocals. For anyone who likes metal with a classical twist, that's about the best compliment possible. The complexity is what makes it so very good. So strongly similar to Iron Maiden, in fact, that I sometimes expected Brian McBrain cutting loose at key moments. But alas, it never happens. Very solid skins considering I'm comparing it to the best drummer who ever lived.

Once again, his use of dynamic range is far superior than the "made for radio"" commercial music you find released on CD these days. I spent many thousands on a high quality system back in the 80s that still bests anything you can find at any retail store. This music rivals Pink Floyd in the use of dynamic range - it's about time my system had some real work to do. It's nice being able to bypass my dynamic range compander for once. But unlike Pink Floyd, there's no easter egg tracks embedded in the music for a high end audio system to find. Despite this, Capella sounds much better after expanding the dynamic range. The Piano/guitar combo could have been less forte.

Speaking of Pink Floyd, Fomalhaute and some of Betelguise sound like they could have come right out of PFs studios while Syd Barret was there - just edgier. This didn't work so well for Bellatrix, which had some lame stuff sandwiched in its Maiden like melodies.

Unfortunately, because of my system, there is one track that just turned out terrible; Procyon. Way too much distortion. Same for the guitar at the end of Sol. One expects a salve to soothe a raw nerve at the end of a song and an album, but the distortion prevents it. You're left with an unsatisfyingly raw nerve at the end of the album.