'The Sea Within' is a new project of artists who come from different backgrounds ranging from jazz to metal to pop and rock. The formations in which they participate or have participated are so numerous that I will only mention a few that show the diversity of genres: 'The Flower Kings', 'Pain Of Salvation', 'Renaissance' or 'Steven Wilson’. But to be a success, all these talents taken separately are not enough to make a good album because it necessarily requires an alchemy allowing everyone to give the best to make the whole unique. And there, the success is total, so much we attend a fusion between the different styles with sequences being done naturally. Certainly, this is the kind of music that, first of all, requires to adhere to different progressive styles of the last 50 years, and then, must be tame little by little to discover, listening after listening, all the nooks and crannies in which group wants to take you. The typical example is 'Broken Cord' which throughout its 14 minutes is a labyrinth of sounds that requires surrender completely to the music to enjoy every moment. Also note that the melodies are catchy and the vocal harmonies are very worked and this even in the last 4 titles that are presented as bonuses but are of the same level as the rest. In summary, as you will understand, 'The Sea Within' is the kind of album that improves with the time and will be hard to be appreciated at the first listen: for my part, it is a wonderful patchwork of progressive influences of the last 50 years and is to add to the ideal discotheque of any amateur of progressive through the ages... | |
