PAGAN'S MIND: Heavenly Ecstasy (PROGRESSIVE METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

While it seemed to have reached its full maturity on "Enigmatic: Calling" (2005), Pagan's Mind did not hesitate to take some risks on its successor ("God's Equation" - 2007), a sign that the Norwegian band is not afraid to make its music evolve when it is so difficult to assert its identity in the Progressive Metal scene. And if we had to wait 4 years for this "Heavenly Ecstasy" to finally arrive in our ears, it's because the quintet took the time to offer us a live album ("Live Equation" - 2009) before fine-tuning its last one whose cover, abandoning for the first time the cold of the spatial blue tints, lets us hope for new evolutions.

Yet, the Pagan's Mind sound is immediately recognizable after a "Contact" that continues the tradition of introductions opening each album of the band. And this is the strength of Jorn Viggo Lofstad and his band: to have managed to create their own identity without plagiarizing themselves. "Heavenly Ecstasy" does not depart from the rule seeing the quintet mixing power-metal riffs, catchy refrains, melodic guitars, scathing accelerations and aerial keyboards, sometimes within the same title ("Into The Aftermath"), without this detracting from the coherence of the whole.

For this, the Norwegians rely on a flawless technique and a unique sense of composition. The rhythm section is breathtakingly efficient, Ronny Tegner's keyboards are essential to the band's identity, alternating spatial sounds ("Follow Your Way") and duels with Lofstad on some wild solos, the latter no longer having to be presented because his mix of technique and feeling is impressive. Finally, Nils K. Rue is a schizophrenic singer, as much capable of being disturbing on the epic "Revelation To The End", aggressive on the speed "The Master's Voice", as delicate on the final ballad "When Angels Unite". With such a dream-team, we can travel safely through territories as varied as the melodic Hard-Rock of a "Walk Away In Silence", mixing influences such as Def Leppard and Queensrÿche, Progressive Metal, Speed or Power-Metal.

Pagan's Mind thus manages to maintain itself on the top of the genre, asserting a little more its identity with each album, while being able to renew itself. With this "Heavenly Ecstasy", there is a good chance that the Scandinavian combo will continue to climb the ladder while some of them are going around in circles (Symphony X) or that others still can't assert themselves (Sun Caged). One, if not the, Progressive Metal release of the year. So you know what you have to do! - Official website

PAGAN'S MIND

HEAVENLY ECSTASY

SPV STEAMHAMMER

PROGRESSIVE METAL