Mindsplit is a new Scandinavian prog metal band with a musical style somewhere between straight metal, prog metal and classic rock. The core of the band revolves around singer H.B. Anderson and guitar picker Mathias Holm. The fourteen tracks on this rather interesting album are all big, powerful and rather dark, sometimes reminding me of the extremely boring album Be of Pain Of Salvation... Charmed Human Art Of Significance is a concept album dealing with psychological thoughts and human behaviour, coming from a certain professor Xanadau, who supposedly was a therapist from the 19th century. Musically one can say that this is an extremely diverse album, but I would rather describe it as unbalanced lasting at least 25 minutes too long! Songs like The Traveller, ... elsewhere?, NME- Myself & I or A Room With Thousands Doors are really boring, mediocre rock songs. Especially the forced vocals - almost sounding like Jon Anderson on the toilet - really get on my nerves! These guys are just trying too hard! However, in good songs like Silhouettes, Presence Of Time or the instrumental Visual Minds you can hear that this band has great musical potential. Especially a song like Presence Of Time is a true prog metal gem filled with great riffs, hooks and a guitar solo in the vein of Steve Vai. My conclusion: Charmed Human Art Of Significance isn't a simple album to listen to. Several listening sessions are required, but it still reminds me too much of Pain Of Salvation's Be. Listen and judge for yourself; maybe I'm wrong as I'm only human... **+ Martien Koolen (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
