Time Signature
Into the fire...
Genre: progressive metal
Originally released in 2003, this album is slated for rerelease later this August in a very limited digipak edition with one bonus track.
Section A evolves around guitar virtuoso Torben Enevolsen who apparently formed the band because he was tired of doing instrumental albums. Although essentially his band, the album is definitely not just the vehicle of an inflated guitarist's ego. It is guitar-driven, yes, (it is metal after all), but not guitar dominated. Enevoldsen spends as much time on grooves and riffs as on guitar leads, and thus he comes across as a team player, which I really admire.
He definitely is a skilled guitarist, and his technical abilities are brought into the limelight in his guitar solos, which are impressive and characterized by both shred and melody.
Musically, we are dealing with melodic progressive metal which features both straightforward and catchy passages (with tracks like 'Riot' being straightforward melodic metal tracks) as well as progressive elements in the form of odd time signatures, keyboard solos, slightly jazzy elements, and extended melodic pieces and spacey bridges. A track like the ballad 'Pray for Rain' is, for my money, one of the best tracks on the album, and has a slight Queensrÿche-feel to it, while 'Nightmare' features some nice Fates Warning-inspired riffage.
In addition to Enevoldsen's guitar playing, a major attraction of this album is definitely Andy Engberg's powerful vocals. His voice is extremely clear and powerful, and he delivers the vocal lines perfectly.
Fans of melodic progressive metal should strike now and pre-order this reissued version of the album if they do not already own it.