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Aeon Zen is the brainchild of Rich Hinks who plays almost every instrument, just got drummer Lloyd Musto in who also did the vocals on one song. So you might wonder, if this is an instrumental album... No, even if there are two instrumentals to find at A Mind's Portrait. When Rich HInks started toying around the idea to record an album he wanted his favorite singers to do vocals. And he managed to get some illustrious singers to sing his songs.
The album kicks off with heavy riffs, but the keyboard-laden Existence offers slow melodic passages, too. Tempi changes and a catchy hook line will soon take hold of you. Ex-Seventh Wonder / Silent Call singer Andi Kravljaca is showing his talent on this one. A prog rock song which shows technical skills, but focuses on melodies. With Time Divide Aeon Zen heads into more metallic sounds, but don't loose the prog rock feeling. This time Nils K. Rue of Pagan's Mind takes over the microphone. A melodic rock tune with some prog elements is Blinded Rain which is again sung by Andi Kravljaca. His emotional vocals will enchant you. Next in line Hope's Echo Pt. I - The Wake which kicks off with keyboard, a slow balladesque one which features once again Andreas Novak. The keyboard reminds me a bit of some epic Savatage stuff... Part II - The Aftermath is following and takes a different direction. Still very melodic, but with heavy parts and more riff-based. The title track A Mind's Portrait begins with acoustic guitar, then the vocals set in. The song reminds me a bit of Asia... It has this art rock atmosphere... It leads into The Circle's End, the first instrumental. Picking up speed the guitar is kinda taking over the vocal line and gets supported by the keyboard. I'm not a fan of instrumental music, but this one is less then two minutes and so it manages to even entertain people like me who aren't into lengthy instrumental journeys. The following Heavens Falling is a heavy rocker with melodic vocals, here drummer Lloyd Musto sings. A slight pop appeal shows through in Musto's vocals, but there are heavy riffs next to atmospheric keyboards and moody vocals. And then Cristian van Schuerbeck adds a keyboard solo. The song is a sonic roller coaster ride from atmospheric rock to prog metal to progressive rock. Next in line the prog metal tune Into The Infinite. A prominent drum beat, heavy riffs and powerful vocals make this one differ from the other songs. Time for the second instrumental. Goddess is 4+ minutes and kicks off with piano, slowly builds up. A symphonic track, but personally the piano part is too repetitive for me... With the epic The Demise Of The Fifth Sun the album ends. The closer has a lot to offer! With 12+ minutes it's the longest track on A Mind's Portrait and it features Elyes Bouchoucha of Myrath. The Tunisian singer fits well to this prog metal opus and has the chance to show different facets of his spectrum. This one fans of Dream Theater should dig.
Aeon Zen delivered a great debut which is close to get 9 out of 10, you might ask why not yet? Well, the songs range from balladesque melodic tunes to prog metal tracks. And even if it works well, I miss a bit the red fathom - so to speak. Some songs will be interesting for prog rock fans while others are probably too heavy for them.... No doubt that the singers did a fantastic job, but I think it partly lacks homogeneity due to the different singers... But I'm sure that with the next album - which should come out mid-2010 - Aeon Zen will get closer to a distinguish style, to show their own identity. So this is criticism on a high level!
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