lukretion Continuum in Extremis is the second album of the solo musical project by Ian Parry, best known as the vocalist of progressive/power metal Dutch band Elegy. The singer released a first album under the name of “Ian Parry’s Consortium Project” in 1999, which was intended to be a one-off departure from his main band Elegy. However, the success of the first record convinced the singer to continue the project and thus in 2001 Continuum in Extremis was released, with Parry helped once again by a large and impressive score of fellow musicians, among which many had also played on the first album, including Stephan Lill (Vanden Plas), Patrick Rondat (Elegy) and Thomas Youngblood (Kamelot) on guitars, Dirk Bruinenberg (Elegy) on drums, Günter Werno (Vanden Plas) on piano/keyboards, and Jan Bijlsma (Vengeance) and Patrice Guers (who will later play with Rhapsody) on bass.

While Continuum in Extremis shares many sonic characteristics of the previous records, there are also marked differences, including a general upping of the ambitions and scale of the project. For one, the music on the new album is the fruit of a more collaborative effort, with Lill, Youngbllod and Rondat all contributing to the songwriting, whereas the debut record was penned entirely by Parry. To signify the passage from solo project to a more rounded band effort, the album indeed came out under the banner “Consortium Project”, dropping the “Ian Parry’s” part of the band’s name. Another important difference is that, while the debut album was a collection of thematically separated songs, Continuum in Extremis is a concept album based on a fairly convoluted story about a utopian/dystopian future where men and women have evolved as separate species living separate lives on the planet. Moreover, the music on Continuum in Extremis is heavier and more firmly rooted in progressive metal than the previous record, with the hard rock influences that were fairly prominent on the debut, largely dispensed of here.

While on paper these changes could have fixed some of the shortcomings of Parry’s first record (especially the fairly monotonous songwriting), the new album fails spectacularly to deliver on its promises. In my opinion, it all comes down to pretty weak songwriting. This is music that uses all the right ingredients of progressive metal (gritty riffs that strike a good balance between immediacy and intricacy, richly symphonic keyboard arrangements, solid rhythm section that adds just the right amount of complexity), but somehow fails to combine them into a tasty finished product. The songs fail to build any momentum and one has often the impression that they meander directionlessly, riff after riff, into nowhere, without reaching any emotional climax or resolve. Parry’s weak vocal melodies are probably the main culprit here, as they are completely unremarkable and fail to give a much-needed melodic identity to the songs. The end result is nearly one hour of music that just chugs on and on and on, without doing much else for the listener. This is what I would call “elevator metal music”: an inoffensive heavy background which you can mildly nod your head to, but that becomes tremendously boring if you divert your full attention to it.

I find very little to save here. The musicianship is good, and it couldn’t be otherwise given the quality of the line-up involved in the project. Parry’s voice is good too, gritty and emotional, it transmits good Dio-esque vibes. The lack of good vocal melodies is a killer for me, but I cannot complain about the singer’s technical performance. Songwise, the two ballads of the album (“Intrusions of Madness” and “Sentiment in Sanctuary”) are among the least unremarkable pieces, featuring some interesting vocal arrangements. “What You Sow, You Reap” is another decent track with good riffs and decent vocals. The rest is pretty forgettable, even after repeated listens.

Overall, this album was pretty disappointing for me. The line-up, the concept nature of the album, and the fact that this was a follow-up to an already decent debut had made me hopeful for a good listening journey. Alas, it became an excruciatingly boring trip, with very few notable moments amidst a grey sea of dull averageness. I’d only recommend this to hardcore fans of Parry.

lukretion Ian Parry is best known for being the vocalist of progressive/power metal Dutch band Elegy (as well as guesting on early Ayreon’s albums). In 1999 the singer took a break from his main job and assembled a cast of fine musicians to record his debut solo album, simply titled Ian Parry’s Consortium Project. With Parry as the main songwriter as well as keyboard player, the line-up was comprised of an impressive list of fellow musicians, including Stephan Lill (Vanden Plas), Patrick Rondat (soon to join Elegy too) and Thomas Youngblood (Kamelot) on guitars, Dirk Bruinenberg (Elegy) on drums, and Barend Courbois (Vengeance), Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) and Martin Helmantel (Elegy) on bass.

The music is a blend of soft progressive metal, melodic power metal and hard rock, not too far from the type of sound one can find on the early Ayreon records. Royal Hunt may be another reference in terms of sound. The songs are mostly guitar- and keyboard-driven mid-tempos, with riffs that are gritty and majestic, but also very melodic and accessible. Meanwhile, the rhythm section provides a robust backbone that keeps things simple and to the point, rarely straying too far off the main beat. These are tracks clearly written with Ian Parry’s vocals in mind and so the whole music revolves around the vocal hooks, with simple structures that are based on the repetition of verse-bridge-chorus, with a rare middle-eight thrown-in in a couple of songs. Each song also contains an inevitable guitar solo, usually placed after the chorus, allowing the guest guitarists to have the spotlight shined on them.

Given the rather straightforward and fairly unadventurous musical background, the success of the songs largely depends on Parry’s melodic lines and performance. He is one of those singers in the tradition of Ronnie James Dio, with a voice that is gritty but also very expressive, and with a decent range. While his performance is generally good, the vocal lines he has written for himself do not always hit the mark. When they do, the songs are pretty good, like the opening duo “House of Cards” and “Banquet for Thieves”, which feature a strong chorus that acts as climax to the momentum that the songs build over the verse and bridge. The piano-based ballad “A Miracle Is All We Need” is another strong song, wisely placed in the middle of the album to give the proceedings a much-needed change of pace after a sequence of mid-tempo tracks that somewhat tend to blur together.

Elsewhere, however, things do not work as well as the album’s beginning might lead one to hope. “Evilworld”, “Change Breeds Contempt”, “The Snake” and “Criminals & Kings” are all sub-par tracks, with weak vocal melodies, especially on the choruses that fail to give the songs the cathartic boost they would so much need. The other tracks fair better, but only slightly. One gets the impression that Parry’s songwriting is a tad too monothematic, with many of the songs here following the same structure and the same melodic ideas. Past its first half, the album becomes somewhat of a chore to get through, despite the fact that its closing tracks “Chain of Fear” and “Pandora's Box” are decent. The sound production does not help either, as the record sounds somewhat muddy and powerless.

Overall, Ian Parry’s solo debut is a decent, but somewhat underwhelming effort. It is the classic album that would have benefitted a lot from a pruning down of two/three tracks, as well as an injection of more diverse and exciting material. The album is saved by a couple of good tracks as well as by the great line-up of musicians (including Parry), who guarantee solid performances all around. However, I would only recommend this to fans of the singer, because if you are looking for good progressive metal of the early 2000s, there is so much better stuff out there than this.

martindavey87 Ian Parry has done a fantastic job with the debut release of his Consortium Project. A group consisting of... wait... hold on, who the hell is Ian Parry?!

His name is so almost-pompously placed in the title of the album as if he's someone you should know. It's almost hilarious. He's released a few solo rock albums, and he was known at the time of this albums release for fronting the Dutch prog/power metal band Elegy, who I actually quite like, but apparently nobody else really does. Still, when I got this CD and saw some of the musicians involved, my interest certainly piqued. Besides the savior of music himself, Ian Parry, this album features Thomas Youngblood from Kamelot, Arjen Lucassen of Ayreon fame, and members of Elegy, the band Parry was fronting at the time, all make appearances.

All jokes aside though, Ian Parry, messiah of music and master of the microphone, has gone and released a pretty good album. The music sounds exactly as you'd expect it to; guitar/keyboard-driven progressive metal, that actually does a fantastic job of blending elements of progressive and power metal, along with hard rock and even AOR influences. And Parry does have a pretty good voice. Bonus points!

That doesn't stop things from getting stale though. As half-way through the record the quality of the songs starts to diminish a little. They're not drastically terrible, but they certainly ooze of filler material, not worthy of a musical prophet such as Ian Parry. But the first few tracks, in particular, 'House of Cards', 'Banquet of Thieves', 'Garden of Eden' and 'Change Breeds Contempt' are all fine examples of good, quality progressive metal. And the closing track 'Pandora's Box' picks things up again, so at least the album doesn't end on a bum-note.

It's nothing that will change your life, but it will make a fine addition to the collection of any fans of progressive or power metal.

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Time Signature Mastermind...

Genre: progressive power metal

The fourth installment in Lion Music's ongoing reissue series of Consortium Project's back catalog, "Children of Tomorrow" was originally released in 2007, but will see the light of day once again in March this year.

On the previous album, "Terra Incognita (The Undiscovered World)" Ian Parry seemed to have found the sound for his Consortium Project, drawing on the groove and heaviness of the rather forgettable debut album and the much better sophomore effort "Continuum in Extremis" and adding a symphonic and progressive touch.

"Children of Tomorrow" pretty much continues down the same road as on "Terra Incognita (The Undiscovered World)", initiating the album with a symphonic and epic intro which even features a wee spoken narrative. The opening riff of the starter, is a heavy and groovy riff, and the track has a quite dark atmosphere overall - and this atmosphere is ubiquitous throughout the entire album. An interesting feature is the use of oriental-ish moods like in the epic-sounding 'Nowhere Fast' and the groovy 'Exodus', while tracks like 'Shadows' and 'Made in Heaven' features some retro prog rock-like spacey keyboards, and 'Enigma' and 'Mastermind' are uptempo and aggressive.

In keeping with the tradition of power metal which the sound of Consortium Project has always been anchored in, the choruses on this album are big and epic, but, interestingly, not as catchy as on the predecessor. Still, they go well together with the overall epic feel.

Fans of dark progressive power metal should definitely check out this central opus in the corpus of Ian Parry's work.

Time Signature Nemesis...

Genre: progressive power metal

Originally released in 2003 and also the third installment in Lion Music's series of reissues of Ian Parry's Consortium Project, this album, along with the other Lion Music's reissues, is specifically interesting in relation to the evolution of the artistic Consortium Project.

The style is basically the same type of prog power metal, as on "I: Criminals & Kings" and "II: Continuum in Extremis", or rather, it is a further development thereof. Where "II: Continuum in Extremis" was a radical improvement over the somewhat tame and forgettable "I: Criminals & Kings," "III: Terra Incognita (The Undiscovered World)" has the same high level of quality as its predecessor, but the overall sound is adjusted and a more progressive and more symphonic dimension is added.

As on its predecessor, the riffing on this disc quite strong, and Ian Parry makes good use of both groovy and classic metal-rock riffage, combining it with power metal aesthetics in the form of thundering bass drums and big, catchy choruses as well as an overall epic feel. So in the power metal department, everything is as it should be.

As the album's introduction indicates, Ian Parry has radically upped the symphonic dimension on this album and the keyboards have been given a more central role in the overall sound - but without being too cheesy. There are also more progressive elements on this album than on the predecessors, such as odd time signature and other quirky things, and the synths also contribute with spacey effects, known from the progressive rock of the 70s. And through oriental theme that characterizes this disc, is also helping to generate an interesting sound. So even if the quality is the same as its predecessor, the music still will probably strike many as being a bit more interesting on this release.

If you are a fan of pompous, but not cheesy, power metal with a progressive twist and plenty of melody, you should check this album out.