SIEGES EVEN - PARAMOUNT

SIEGES EVEN - PARAMOUNT

Disk 1 . . . . . . .61:42
1) When Alpha And Omega Collide . . 5:52
2) Tidal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:15
3) Eyes Wide Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:40
4) Iconic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4:59
5) Where Our Shadows Sleep . . . . . . . 7:08
6) Duende . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:11
7) Bridge To The Divine . . . . . . . . . . . .5:55
8) Leftovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:16
9) Mounting Castles In The Blood Red Sky . 5:36
10) Paramount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8:50

Line-up:
- Arno Mense: vocals
- Oliver Holzwarth: bass
- Alex Holzwarth: drums
- Markus Steffen: guitars

with guest musician:
- Sven Rossenbach: saxophone

Format: Single CD • InsideOut SPV 79582
release date: September 21, 2007
Sieges Even's official website: http://www.siegeseven.com/

A review by Yves Dubé
InsideOut have carved a niche for themselves as the premier label for extremely polished progressive metal bands. The latest from Sieges Even, Paramount keeps that tradition alive. The band kept a sound they originally employed on their very successful (in prog-metal circles anyway) 2005 US debut disc The Art Of Navigating By The Stars, they just tweaked it. Their current release is a collection of 10 tracks with an emphasis on individual compositions as opposed to a concept album. Although the disc does have a few heavier moments, such as the opening When Alpha And Omega Collide, which showcases some very intricate guitar work and superlative drumming, the main flow of the disc seems to be more mid-tempo. Obvious similarities can be drawn with bands like Ray Alder-era Fates Warning, latter-day Shadow Gallery, as well as some of Dream Theater’s earlier, softer moments. Some of the heavier moments call to mind fellow Teutons Poverty’s No Crime.

Fans of any of these bands will be well served here, although the more adventuresome progger may get a sense of déjà-vu with this disc. The band seems to fire on all cylinders and offers up some decent material, yet none of it is very memorable and the tracks just seem to flow too smoothly; caught in a sound just a tad too slick and refined to please a true metalhead, yet too uninspired and safe to please a die-hard progger. Thus this disc (and this genre as a whole), just seems to wallow in a sort of musical purgatory. If you really like this genre, then this disc will surely please you. However, if you’re new to the genre, you’d best seek to sink your teeth into something with a little more meat on it’s bones. There are some good ideas on this disc, and definitely some good musicianship, but the overall results just don’t raise this band into the upper echelons of a genre already too crowded with middle-of-the-pack bands. For die-hard melodic progressive metal fans only.

My rating for Paramount : 6.5/10(album reviewed by Yves Dubé 11/11/2007)