Universal Migrator
Mark Sander - DPRP
May 2000
Chaos sets the pace for the album. More speed, fireworks on guitar, fast keyboards and synths and far more energetic drums than on The Dream Sequencer.
Russel Allen (Symphony X) provides superb vocals for Dawn Of A Million Souls. Strings (Pieter Siedlach) add a resting point and Michael Romeo, Allen's colleague from Symphony X gives a great guitar solo. All in all, it's clear from the start that we're in whole new territory here, compared to the first Universal Migrator CD. A gripping track, vocally and instrumentally.
There are more strings in the intro of Journey On The Waves Of Time. (Remember the Actual Fantasy song Back On Planet Earth? Its lyrics: "Riding on the Waves of Time"... Another fine vocal outing, this time by Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), and Ed Warby (Gorefest) is obviously enjoying himself at the drum kit. Keys provide brass imitations, familiar from The Final Experiment and Erik Norlander goes solo on the Hammond organ.
To The Quasar eases the pace with acoustic guitar in its first part The Taurus Pulsar. Andi Deris (Helloween) gets the familiar Ayreon 'vocal distortion treatment'. Then Lucassen shifts to electric guitar and riffing as we are taken into the second half of the track, Quasar 3c273. Deris sounds more familiar in this part as the tempo is upgraded. Heavy guitar and synth solos by Norlander and Rene Merkelbach add a sharper edge to this track. At this point it's becoming obvious that the most notable feature of this album is it's constant quality.
And so we come to the song I've been looking forward to most. Lucassen in collaboration with Bruce Dickinson; it sounds like a musical dream come true. Well, you won't be disappointed with Into The Black Hole. In this bombastic song Bruce is at the top of his game and the instrumentalist perform no less splendidly. Besides Norlander, Clive Nolan has another solo, while Lucassen takes care of solos and riffing on guitar. This compact trilogy is by far the best song Ayreon brings us this time and has to be reckoned a strong contender for 'best song of the year'.
From the bombastic sound of Into The Black Hole Lucassen takes us into the fast rock of Through The Wormhole with Fabio Lione (Rhapsody) ideal on vocals. Fiery work on drums by Warby, while the apparently multi talented Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery) adds both a guitar and synth solo.
Out Of The White Hole is another mini trilogy in which Lucassen treats us to a reacquaintance with 'Forever', the alien being from Into The Electric Castle. Shifting from rock to rough-edged metal, with some bombastic passages thrown in, this track features the vocals of Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius). Fine work by Norlander on synths and Hammond.
As the colonist approaches planet Earth with the Universal Migrator we hear the familiar vocals of Robert Soeterbeek, who returns to the fold after a leave of absence on Into The Electric Castle. One of the more relaxed track on the album but with a short, biting guitar solo.
It seems fitting that Lucassen reserved the very last track for his old bandmate Ian Parry (Vengeance). The quiet first part of Sleeper Awake leads up to the speed of the vocal section, with Keiki Kumagai (Ars Nova) on guitar solo. The best work is delivered, again, by Ed Warby, who is consistent throughout the album. This song ends almost religiously, with choir and organ.
As I've mentioned in the review of The Dream Sequencer this second CD is a much stronger concept album, which leads us through a less diverse storyline, but actually gains added strength from the attention given to detail. This is one of those CDs best played as a single piece, without any interruptions.
Great compositions, a fine job done in engineering and solid performances all around. It's not as appealing as Into The Electric Castle when that album is taken in its totality, but as Lucassen's previous album did have some weak spots and this album hardly has any, I have no qualms about giving Flight Of The Migrator the same rating I'd have given the earlier CD.