Sun Caged - Dominion


Year of Release: 2001
Label: independent
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 23:06:00

Sun Caged hail from The Netherlands and features guitar-wiz Marcel Coenen (ex-Lemur Voice, Hubi Meisel) and Dennis Leeflang (ex-Within Temptation).

Sun Caged play melodic progressive metal, not very unlike what Lemur Voice did on their two CDs. The music has a slight dark feeling to it yet remaining melodic throughout. It is rather guitar dominated and Marcel is once again providing crunchy riffs and technical subtlety. The keys are varied and create the perfect mood and atmosphere for the songs. Overall the music is rather progressive, with lots of intricate themes and time-changes. Thankfully the band does not lose their way through all this technical stuff but maintain an accessible verse/chorus combination. The music is spiced up with some jazzy and experimental parts. Obviously these are extremely skilled musicians and the mid-to-high ranged vocalist does a decent job but might be considered the weakest link in the band. Speaking of vocalists, apparently the band recently announced a new singer in Andre Vuurboom (Ex-Jera, Imperium).

I have to admit that it did take me quite a while to fully appreciate these songs. This is not easily accessible and it demands the listener to spend some time getting to know the songs. All four songs presented are above average and interesting for all prog metal fans, but I miss the little extra that could take the music to the next level. The mix is well balanced, but I would like to hear a more powerful production, which this music definitely need. But for an demo-CD release, this more than meets my approval.

Fans of prog metal will find a lot to enjoy on this independent disc and with the lack of new good prog metal bands these days, Sun Caged comes as a nice surprise. Hopefully they will pick up a deal soon. I am sure we will hear more from this promising band in the near future. And with the new vocalist onboard, it will be exciting to see if he can take the band to new heights. Best of luck to you guys!

[This review originally appeared May 2003 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]


Tracklisting:
Curiosity Killed The Cat (6:57) / Four Guilders (5:03) / Sides (5:53) / The Escape (5:13)

Musicians:
Dennis Leeflang - drums
Sascha Burchardt - vocals
Marcel Coenen - guitars
Rob van der Loo - bass, Chapman Stick
Joost Van Der Broek - keyboards

Discography:
Scar Winter (demo ep) (2000)
Dominion (demo ep) (2001)
Promo 2002 (2002)
Sun Caged (2003)
Promo '05 (2005)
Artemisia (2007)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin NL

Added: February 20th 2005
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website: www.suncaged.com
Hits: 2291
Language: english

  

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