Time Signature
The voice of a thousand years...
Genre: traditional heavy metal
When the Maiden thing did not work out, and Dickinson was brought back into the band, Blaze Bayley launched a career as a solo artist, first as Blaze and then as Blaze Bayley. Ironically, all his solo albums are, in my opinion, light years better than "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI". His latest solo album is "Infinite Entanglement", which is the first installment in a trilogy of science fiction concept albums; the album is conceptually related to "Silicon Messiah" and "The Tenth Dimension" as well.
While solidly positioned within the traditional metal genre, the album nonetheless manages to be epic in all the right places, as heard in, for instance, the opening title track with its power metal sensibilities and epic background choir. Similarly, "A Thousand Years", "Solar Wind", "Calling You Home", "Dark Energy 256", and the riff-tastic "Human" are massive, energetic, and at the same time incredibly melodic. In fact every song on the album features super melodic and sing-along-friendly choruses and, of course, Blaze's trademark oh-oh-ohs. "Work of Anger" has folksy undertones and ends up an anthem of oh-oh-ohs and memorable melodies across the board. Anthem-wise, it belongs up there with Priest's "United". Another folsky tune is the rather beautiful ballad "What Will Come" which features classical acoustic guitars and violins. I guess I'm known for not liking ballads, but, if they're good - if they're well crafted - I can enjoy them, and this track is no less than fantastic. Another noteworthy track is the atmospheric "The Dreams of William Black" which features the voices of Blaze Bayley's own fans saying 'Where are you' in English and other languages, which I think is a pretty awesome thing to do. Blaze knows how fiercely loyal and supportive his fans are, and giving some of them the opportunity to actually appear on his album is pretty cool.
The musicianship is impeccable, and the album is characterized by admirable professionalism. The songs are very well composed and performed. A lot of work has obviously been put into making each song the best it can be. Chris Appleton delivers some sweet guitar solos, and the entire instrumental section is crushingly tight. Production-wise, the album sounds very good. The sound is well-defined without being too polished, and it carries the music well. Blaze's voice sounds as massive as always and better than ever. He has come a long way from the Wolfsbane days, but his voice has the same unique quality that made me pick up and buy "Down Fall the Good Guys" so many years ago.
"Infinite Entanglement" is a brilliant album. It is solidly positioned in the traditional metal genre, but still manages to be epic in scope and rich in sound and atmosphere. I am sure that many will find this to be the best album of Blaze's career - not just as a solo artist but over his entire career as a professional musician. For my money, it belongs up there with classic metal concept albums such as "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Abigail". I really look forward to hearing the sequel albums.
Blaze Bayley has broken away from the shackles of the music business and is now an independent artist. You can purchase this album, merchandise, and his other releases at blazebayley.net. I would definitely recommend that, if you are interested in this album, you buy it from his webshop. Support independent artists!