Universal Migrator
Rodrigo- DynamiteMetal.com
Well, after the great work done on the INTO THE ELECTRIC CASTLE album, expectations were high on this new work by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen and his Ayreon. Now, unlike his previous work, this is a double CD sold separately, and each CD has a different musical approach, but connected by a futuristic story. It is the 22nd century, and the last human alive is waiting for his death in a Mars colony, and gets inside a fantastic machine, the Dream Sequencer. This is the starting point for a wonderful story and amazing instrumental work. The first part, THE DREAM SEQUENCER, focus on the first trip in the Dream Sequencer, in a regression through the history of mankind. This first CD was made to be more atmospheric, with a strong sense of melody and introspection. It is pure progressive rock, filled with distorted, synthesized sounds and melodies. The team of musicians/vocalists varies from Lana Lane to Spock's Beard's Neal Morse. The intro "The Dream Sequencer" is a trippy track, dictating the mood for the album (just like the intro for the second album, but I'll get there), followed by the almost Doom track "My House On Mars," where Tiamat's Johan Edlund and Floor Jansen make a duet of melancholic vocals; "One Small Step" takes us back to the INTO THE ELECTRIC CASTLE days, with an astonishing vocal work by Edward Reekers. A special mention goes to Lana Lane. Working on both albums (only backings on the second one), she shows an amazing, wonderful leading voice in "Dragon On The Sea" and "2084." Touching vocal melodies, and a touching performance by miss Lane. Speaking of female voices, Jaqueline Govaert does some amazing vocal melodies in "Temple Of The Cat," the album's first single and a great song. Neal Morse, good as always, shows a great feeling on the lead vocal for "The First Man On Earth." After the ending of the reprise for "The Dream Sequencer," we are taken straight into the second part, FLIGHT OF THE MIGRATOR. Now, the colonist tries to go back even further in history, and follows the Universal Migrator, an entity that breathed life into the planets after the Big Bang. Now, this is a heavy, progressive album with a heavy metal dream team. After the exploding intro "Chaos," nine tracks follow the journey of the Migrator and the colonist. "Dawn Of A Million Souls," sung by Symphony X's Russel Allen, is a majestic piece of work, with heavy guitars and distorted synth sounds. Russell's vocals are simply amazing, and as a plus to this track, Michael Romeo performs on it, with a great guitar solo. Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) is a wonderful surprise, singing "Journey On The Waves Of Time" in high tones in a very passionate way. "To The Quasar" is probably the most different track in the album, sung by Helloween's Andi Deris. Then, we move to "Into The Black Hole," sung by Bruce Dickinson. Probably the best track on both albums, this 10-minute epic is truly a masterpiece. Bruce's vocals are astonishing, growing with the music. In the end, we still have his duet with Lana Lane, in the best moment of the whole UNVERSAL MIGRATOR. After Mr. Dickinson's wonderful participation, we have two singers of the new generation, Fabio Lione (Rhapsody) and Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius), with some good vocal work. Fabio Lione sings in low tones, rather different than he does in Rhapsody, and the result is great; also, on the "Through The Wormhole" track, there is some great solo work (keyboards and guitar) by Shadow Gallery's Gary Wehrkamp, deserving great applause. Timo Kotipelto performs "To The Solar System," in a great performance as well, with great music. Elegy's Ian Perry performs in "To The Solar System," in a vocal with more melody than power, and the album closes with "The New Migrator," performed by Robert Soeterboek, in a great interpretation as well. Wow, this was big. Anyway, Arjen's initiative to go after great names to work for his ideas is really paying, and we already create expectations for a future album. We can do nothing now besides give our compliments to chef Lucassen. - Rodrigo