Ulysses - The Gift Of Tears


Year of Release: 2008
Label: Symbioses
Catalog Number: 801
Format: CD
Total Time: 61:52:00

Ulysses and the full-blown album The Gift Of Tears. Rewind seven years. Ulysses and the Eclectic demo. Fast forward seven years and make sure not to lose your lunch in the time warp. If anything, the couple of lineup changes, hefty sonic revamping, and years of existence that this Dutch fivesome has undergone since I last heard their five-song demo have had the very effect that one would expect: this is simply not the same band that once featured a shrill Geddy Lee-like singer and an endearing level of na?ve enthusiasm that just managed to put the group's music ahead of the prog metal muddle of bands that all sound the same. No sir, today's Ulysses is more accurate, more polished, and more accessible. Unfortunately, it's also more predictable.

With a sound that is equal parts Dream Theater and Shadow Gallery for the most part, The Gift Of Tears features all the harmonic progressions, odd time signatures, and mood changes that anyone would expect given these points of reference, but somehow managing to remain in a mid-tempo stupor most of the time. Add to that the somewhat clumsy vocals of Michael Hos and his penchant for diving into overdramatic vocal episodes, as well as the lack of a greater sense of musical line and direction in Sylvester Vogelenzag de Jong's guitar solos and Ron Mozer's synth work, and Ulysses' latest simply fails to light any sparks for an entire hour. Even the short "Silence Of The Night" sounds like an alternating mix of Queensr?che's "Silent Lucidity" and one of Shadow Gallery's myriad pretty ballads. Competent? Yes. Exciting? Not so much.

It's not that these guys aren't proficient, because they're all quite capable musicians. And it's not that they can't come up with good stuff either, because the swirling synth line in the intro to "How Much More" and the B3 segments in "The Gift Of Tears" show promise. It's just that this Dutch quintet is currently stuck under the shadow of bands that have done this before, that have done it with much greater oomph, and that defined the clich?s that mark the vast majority of the material on The Gift Of Tears. And while that little demo that was issued seven years ago did show that these musicians have the potential to carve a position for themselves in the crowded word of prog metal, it unfortunately won't happen until Hos and company are able to throw off the suffocating shroud of imitation that is currently holding them down.


Tracklisting:
Family Portrait (8:58) / Guardian Angel (9:12) / Lost (6:35) / How Much More (12:16) / Silence Of The Night (2:48) / The Gift Of Tears (7:09) / Anat (14:52)

Musicians:
Michael Hos - vocals
Sylvester Vogelenzang de Jong - guitars
Ron Mozer - synthesizers
Casper Kroon - bass
Ren? van Haaren - drums

Discography:
Eclectic (demo) (2001)
Symbioses (2003)
The Gift Of Tears (2008)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin NL

Added: November 19th 2008
Reviewer: Marcelo Silveyra
Score:
Artist website: www.ulysses-online.nl
Hits: 3017
Language: english

  

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