Pantommind - Lunasense

Year of Release: 2009
Label: Spectastral Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 52:03:00

One of the best albums, in my opinion, and one that really blew me away back in 2005, was the (official) debut album by Pantommind, Shade Of Fate. This album put this Bulgarian band straight on the map in the prog metal world. Now, some four years later, I still love that album. And boy, was I thrilled when I received a message from this same band via Myspace! They had some great news: their second album was as good as ready and they asked if I was interested in reviewing this album....Well, I have to admit all the piracy, economic crises and the decreasing amount of promos kinda made me loose my joy in music. But of course given the excellent debut, I was very interested.

So now I have it in my hands and I am sooo proud: Lunasense, the second album by Pantommind, not counting the demo release. And it blew me away! Even more than the first album. So I can already say these guys have grown and have delivered a masterpiece. It is heavy, pounding, melodic and it will suck you in from the moment you play it.

A few things I noticed: the band is nowadays one person short: Bass player Dido is not on this album. His part is played by Pete Christ, who also plays both acoustic and electric guitars and piano. Turns out he is quite a good bass player! Secondly I find the production sounds better compared to Shade Of Fate.This time Pete Christ took the lead in the production .... is there anything this guy cannot do? Similar to the first album, the artwork on Lunasense is quite cool.

Although I do not have the lyrics, I do find the song titles very interesting and they give an impression of the mood of the album: "Erasable Tears," "Letter To No One," "Blank" ... all a bit melancholic. Still, I do not find the music melancholic ... maybe touches. But from "Transmission Part I" (the opening track) until "I'll Never Be The Same" (you guessed it: the closing track), this album ROCKS!

Pantommind does not waste time with introductions, already with opener "Transmission Part I" they go full throttle. Sunny X kicks of with some mellow synth sounds and a great bass, when Christ and Vichew kick in with some massive crunch! This instrumental song already demonstrates what is to come: driving melodic prog metal of the highest quality. Christ and Vichew are two amazing guitarists: powerfull riffs and melodic solos. I really want to meet the first person who will not love this. Joe Satriani: eat your heart out :)

Then singer Tony Ivan joins in. Back in 2005 I really enjoyed his vocals and that has not changed on Lunasense. Honestly: I'd take him over James LaBrie any day! He has a very powerful voice and although he can reach these high notes, it won't hurt your ears. He adds a lot of passion and power to the songs, with his, sometimes haunting, vocals. Man, goosebumps!

In "Erasable Tears" and "Blank," the band really goes in overdrive, with amazing pounding metal, but overall is is heavy progressive metal. Of course guitarists Christ and Vichew steal the show, but definitely take heed of the excellent and powerful drums by Drago, who is totally in sync with the bass played by Pete Christ. and the icing to the cake is Sunny X, who does not only provide some of the gear intros, but manages to blend in the music, that you almost wouldn't notice it. Mind you, I say "almost," because without him, it would sound as great as it does now.

While writing this review, I re-read the one I wrote for Shade Of Fate and I do find a few similarities: I describe the band almost the same as back then. And again I do not have a favourite song ... I love every part of this album. The only thing that changed is the songs are different and I find Lunasense in some ways a better album. OK, maybe I am biased, but I love this band and I love this album. But only because it is soooo good! Listen to it and you will come to the same conclusion. If not, then probably metal is not your thing...

OK, I'll go out on limb here and see if I can find something about this album that I can criticize: Hmm ... the musicians are top notch, the songs are great. Production is crystal clear and I love the artwork. Well, maybe the fact that the songs do not flow over into each other? Oh, and "Transmission Part II" is a short instrumental ... a filler track. Well, I can live with the pauses, they may even be welcome with the amount of music this great band pours out through your speakers. And that short instrumental is a very nice song and also gives you a moment of peace between all the shredding guitars. Conclusion: From start to finish a great album, period!

And if I really ... really have to mention a favourite song, it will be "Sandglass" ... listen to it and you will buy the album for sure!

One last thing and then I will shut up: Please help preserve the music we love and buy the album! Keep in mind the musicians that worked hard in bringing you this great music, have to pay the rent too!

Tracklisting:
Transmission Part I / Erasable Tears / Wolf / Sandglass / Letter To No One / To The Days Of Old / Blank / Transmission Part II / My Home (Into Eternity) / I'll Never Be The Same

Musicians:
Pete Christ - guitars, bass, piano
Drago - drums & percussion
Tony Ivan - lead & backingvocals
Sunny X - keyboards
Peter Vichew - guitars

Guest Musicians:

Colleen Gray - backing vocals (6), spoken parts (1, 2, 8)


Discography:
Farewell (demo) (1999)
Shade Of Fate (2005)
Lunasense (2009)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin BG

Added: February 16th 2009
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: http://www.pantommind.com
Hits: 5478
Language: english