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Bassist and founding member of Seventh Wonder Andreas Blomqvist is proud of their fifth studio album. He describes it as “…everything you have come to expect from Seventh Wonder…” with “…some new flavors in there to keep it interesting.” He relates “We really didn’t think too much about what sound we were going for, nor did we have to force it, it all came natural…” The natural recording process sounds uneven and has an occasional jarring mix of tempos and styles. Early on, there are well-crafted Prog Metal songs such as “The Everones” and “Against The Grain”. The latter illustrates the unsettled nature of the song writing: an acoustic intro leads to a soaring electric guitar bridge which segues into a piano and voice bridge then phases into multiple other bridges. The middle five songs stray into disappointing Symphonic Metal. “Victorious” is formulaic employing the cliché lyric “we will be glorious, victorious” and a simplified song structure contrasting poorly with earlier songs. “Tiara’s Song (Farewell Pt. 1)” could’ve been titled “Victorious Pt. 2” as it shares saccharine lyrics and similar structure. “Goodnight (Farewell Pt. 2)” ladles sweet syrup vocals and lilting piano to become a sticky, ballad mess. The menacing guitar driven bridge is the sole redeeming moment. The campfire sing along outro is nothing short of punishment for not skipping the song entirely. “Beyond Today (Farewell Pt. 3)” lays all Prog Metal pretense aside as a full-on vocal and piano ballad with string arrangements. More symphonic moments await the dedicated listener on “The Truth” which throws a female vocalist into the mix. Fortunately, the album exits with a suite of Prog Metal tunes which saves Tiara from being like a dainty tiara and more like a metal crown. While Seventh Wonder describe their sound as Progressive Metal for fans …READ MORE
Featuring new albums from Seventh Wonder, Marty Friedman, Midnite City and C.T.P. (Christian Tolle Project)! …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE …READ MORE
RAGE Like Twisted Sister would later that day, German originated Rage’s gig also served as a 25th anniversary. Not of a specific album, but a career. Yes, it has been that long. Because of this, Rage’s set list was fairly varied, but still concentrated on later albums that includes some of the band’s most beloved works anyway. A Rage gig is based on the songs and the musicianship contained therein almost exclusively, as visually the veteran band hardly have anything exciting to offer. The musicianship in Rage very seldom, if ever, disappoints, which was indeed yet again the case, though the sound suffered from slight distortion issues here and there throughout the set. An anniversary, but still just Rage, which is part of this band’s modest appeal. (“St” Patrik Gustavsson) GRAND MAGUS And so it came: the rain. Lightly at first, but it would resurface. Rain is usually a rarity at Sweden Rock Festival. During Grand Magus’ gig, the weather would hover between that of light rain and sunshine. The light and shade aspect is kinda how Grand Magus music works too; doomy parts trade places with catchy NWOBHM-likened riffs. The band would fare well with a great sound to boot. The Traditional Metallers third and latest effort, Iron Will, turned out to be a breakthrough of sorts for the trio, which shows in the reception of the likes of “Like The Oar Strikes The Water”, “Silver Into Steel” and the majestic title track. Heck, the band still sounded great by the end of their riffy display, despite sipping beer in between every song performed. (“St” Patrik Gustavsson) VOLBEAT These Danes’ lucky star has seen a considerable rise the last year or so; the turnout appreciated to rival that of Europe’s a couple of days later, and by broad daylight (which …READ MORE
Sweden’s premiere Progressive Metal quintet returns with their third release on the Lion Music label. After releasing a very impressive sophomore release over two years ago in Waiting In The Wings it turned out to be a long wait for fans. With such high expectations it would be extremely difficult for Seventh Wonder fans not to drool over speculating on picking up this new release. The question is whether or not the two year lapse in new material has helped make this new release, entitled Mercy Falls, a strong successor to the returning quintet’s last outing. To start with, Seventh Wonder has given in on the temptation to create a concept album, as Mercy Falls is just that. The name of the album itself brings to mind images of the 1990 David Lynch TV series Twin Peaks. Mercy Falls is based on the fate of a small town, a family tragedy and the anomaly we often refer to as “human nature”. The album starts out quite stereotypically with haunting keyboards accompanied by voice and sound clips that help “paint the picture” before the opening track, “A New Beginning”, breaks into a moderate and moody, orchestrated instrumental piece… not exactly a track full of the staccato runs that the band so masterfully performed on their last release. More voice clips before “There And Back” forcefully takes over the soundstage… moody and orchestrated once again but delivered powerfully. It’s not until the third track “Welcome To Mercy Falls” that we hear vocalist Tommy Karevik and some of the staccato patterns a Seventh Wonder fan would expect. The track overall should meet fan’s expectations on all levels complete with a great vocal performance and a strong chorus complete with plenty of multi-tracked backing vocal support (perhaps the influence of Engineer Daniel Flores of …READ MORE
Seventh Wonder have just released their superb Neo-Classical/Progressive sophmore release Waiting In The Wings. Bassist and co-founder Andreas Blomqvist sat down with Metal Express Radio to talk about this lastest project. MER: Hey Andreas, thanks for taking the time to speak with Metal Express Radio! Andreas: Sure! Always fun to talk about yourself, right? 🙂 MER: In 2005 the band released an impressive debut with Become. It was actually recorded in November 2004 and never released until June of 2005. Why the delay? Andreas: Well, we started recording it in late November and were done in December. We got the album mastered in mid-January, I believe, and then we were about done. Then there was some additional time, as the artwork wasn’t finished. I don’t think we got the final version until early April or something so that was the main reason for the delay. At the same time, Lion was looking to get us released in Japan, which is why the release date was postponed until we knew how that was going to end. MER: Around the time of releasing Become the band announced that vocalist Andi Kravljaca (who sang on Become) was no longer a member of the band. It was a harsh break-up. Has anyone spoken to Andi since? Andreas: Yeah well, we had to deal a bit with each other immediately after the break-up to set certain things straight and there were some unresolved practical issues that we were required to attend to. But, after that was taken care of, none of us had spoken to him until I accidentally bumped into him at the Swedish Metal Expo. That was kind of weird, but we shook hands and said “Hi” and that was pretty much it I guess. It was only Tommy and I there at …READ MORE
After releasing a very impressive debut album last year in Become, this Progressive Metal quintet is back with a new singer and stronger production in the form of Waiting In The Wings. Seventh Wonder was formed in 2000 by the “musical core” of bassist Blomqvist, guitarist Liefvendahl, and drummer Sandin. Shortly thereafter, keyboardist Söderin joined and that “musical core” was finalized. The band then went on a never-ending quest for a vocalist to front the band. Previously to Waiting In The Wings, their longest standing vocalist was Andi Kravljaca, who did an impressive job on their debut release. The band recruited vocalist Tommy Karevik (ex-Vindictiv) along with a heavy-duty production specialist in Tommy Hansen (famous for Helloween, T.N.T.) and acting in an engineer role, Daniel Flores (drummer) of Mind’s Eye. Remarkably, this second outing improves upon Become musically, technically, and production-wise … the question is can Karevik effectively replace Kravljaca? Beginning with the music on this release, the technical prowess of the core quartet is remarkable and is so wonderfully represented by the production. The rhythm section of Blomqvist and Sandin sounds tight and superb. Musically, the band effortlessly combines Neo-Classical phrases with Progressive Metal to produce exciting arrangements, as most tracks on this release exceed five minutes in length, while each remains entertaining and never becomes drawn out. The music and songs are so strong they could very easily stand on their own without vocal accompaniment. Especially impressive are the instrumental interludes like the lead-in on the title track. Blomqvist sporting a cool bass line, which provides a slight Funk groove and feel, makes for a memorable moment … it’s a shame that such things have to end. Liefvendahl is as impressive as ever, never over indulging in long, drawn out “Malmesque” solos. He can always be counted on …READ MORE
The debut album, Become, from newcomers Seventh Wonder is an impressive first step in what hopefully becomes a long career. Their music is best categorized as Melodic, Progressive Metal full of power-drumming without all the extreme guitar histrionics. The music is presented confidentially and forcefully with more of a focus on melody versus overpowering and overbearing displays of self-indulgence. On opener, “Day By Day,” the band is propelled by Kravljaca’s soaring vocals, Sandin’s drumming (especially his impressive footwork) and Söderin’s ever-present keyboards, which get equal consideration throughout in the mix. When appropriate, Liefvendahl gets his chops in on lead guitar, with a “longer than short” solo, but still within reason. Throw in a couple of well-placed time changes, and you have the recipe for a very enjoyable track. No resting here, though, as “Like Him” follows with some nice tandem guitar and keyboard phrases, all on top of some nice fingering by bassist Blomqvist. This track also contains one of the catchier choruses, backed by some nicely-placed false harmonics on the guitar. Being part of the band’s demo release, “Temple In The Storm” was included for obvious reasons. Other than having a nice, soothing chorus, it seems out of place here, as it doesn’t have the same impact as some of the surrounding material. Luckily, they get back on track with the up-tempo “Blinding My Eyes,” with its catchy, multi-tracked chorus, and its nicely-done, classical-sounding, instrumental bridge. It would be a mistake not to mention the odd, nearly eight-minute track, “In The Blink Of An Eye,” which begins with a somewhat Progressive musical opening. If you ride out the slow start of this track (for about three minutes) you’ll be rewarded with another nice, melodic chorus. Sadly, bassist Andreas Blomqvist told Metal Express that after recording this album, singer Andi …READ MORE