TRANSATLANTIC — Kaleidoscope (review)

TRANSATLANTIC — Kaleidoscope album cover

Album · 2014 · Metal Related

4/5 · 2014-04-13
arcane-beautiful

The return of the international prog super group is back! And it's pretty much business as usual.

One their last album “The Whirlwind”, the band did the unthinkable and crafted a near 80 minute song with interweaving parts throughout. While this ended up as being the bands most successful release to date, I felt that the album was maybe just a tad overwhelming. Now don't get me wrong, I love mad prog epics more than the next guy...but maybe 79 minute songs are pushing it a little bit.

So...after the drama of Mike Portnoy's departure from Dream Theater had toned down, him and the rest of the guys (who avoid drama at the best of times) decided to finally bite the bullet after their big comeback in 2009 and finally release a follow up to the critically acclaimed “The Whirlwind.”

I have to say, at times this album did surprise me at times. After hearing a thousand copycat nostalgia prog bands doing re hashes of old Genesis material, it was a breath of fresh air to see Transatlantic doing something different. Now, this being their 4th release in 15 years, a similar pattern is emerging and certain generic traits are noticeable, but as entertainment showing off incredible virtuoustic talent, this pretty much hits the nail on the head. Musically the band haven't changed too much, but odd flourishes do grab my interest now and then. I also like how the shared vocal duties of the band have been more equally this time (with Neal mainly taking the reins most of the time on earlier releases). Now...Mike and Pete don't have the best voices, especially when compared with Neal and Roine, but there are moments on this album where they can suprise you.

The opening 25 minute opus “Into The Blue” is probably the album's strongest moment. Taking a more sinister feeling to their sound, it shows off a different side to the bands songwriting. The highlight on the song for me was on the section “Written In Your Heart” with guest vocalist and touring member Daniel Gildenlöw (who currently is unwell due to picking up a bacterial infection) providing some beautiful vocals.

The album's lead single “Shine” is a very nice country influenced ballad with some nice vocal harmonies throughout. The main attraction has to be Roine's ripping guitar solo in the mid section of the song.

One of the more enjoyable moments on the album is on the track “Black As The Sky.” A more upbeat rock infused song, the songs biggest highlight comes in the chorus showing of the bands use of four part harmony.

The weakest moment on the album has to be the albums title track, which clocks in at near 32 minutes. While it is still pretty enjoyable, it does drag on a bit at parts and is a rather lengthy affair. Other than that, it still does have some pretty great prog infused moments.

In conclusion, it's pretty much what you expect. I will admit that this album is better than their previous effort “The Whirlwind” it still doesn't match up to their magnum opus “Bridge Across Forever.” Still a highly enjoyable album with enough prog touches to entertain anyone into nostalgic prog and newer prog sounds.

8.2/10