The self-titled
Book of Reflections
is highly refined
metal
, completely written by prolific guitarist/keyboardist/bassist
Lars Eric Mattsson
with lyricist
Connie Welen
helping out on three of the 11 tracks. Recorded between April and December 2003 in Finland, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S., the music has a clarity that can become dizzying for those not obsessed with the genre, the final track,
"Blood from a Stone,"
displaying the same intensity as
"Going Through the Motions,"
though
"Motions"
has some dynamic movements to break up the headbanging. This is not your familiar
sludge
rock
gone
speed metal
. These fellows take it to another artistic level -- pristine production you're more likely to find on a recording from vintage
Yes
wrapping up cool titles like
"Guardian of Time"
in fast-paced
progressive
rocket riffs. Methodical and eerie, the group flirts with
Iron Maiden
and
Scorpions
ideas, but veers off in its own direction. The album is basically
Mattsson
's baby with lead vocals from four different singers --
Andy Engberg
(of
Section A
and formerly of
Lion's Share
),
Winterlong
's
Mikael Holm
, ex-
Dreamscape
member
Hubi Meisel
, and
Torgny Stjaernfelt
of
Condition Red
. The song
"Book of Reflections"
jumps right into the fray with no warning (or intro passage) and superb guitar work that makes the instrumental a standout.
"Slippin' Away"
takes things down a peg, showing these players can put the lightning-fast onslaught into slow motion and still make it work. Imagine a musician whose only song to study as an aspiring guitar slinger is
Black Sabbath
"Paranoid,"
then push the turntable from 45 rpm to 78 rpm, and you'll have a good idea of the intensity of what the label calls "high-energy
symphonic
/
neo-classical
power metal
."
's bass corresponds well with
Eddie Sledgehammer
's drums, but for an "all-star" project, flavors from another bassist or two could have added another dimension to the work. It has, after all, the same rhythm section found on
's 2001 re-recording of his 1988 album,
Eternity
. Still, it's a focused and solid project ranging from
to melodic crunch
, refining '80s licks and hitting hard. ~ Joe Viglione