Review by SilentScream213 for Space Odyssey - Embrace the Galaxy (2003)

I’ve heard a lot of Neoclassical albums lead by “guy who is really good at guitar/keyboard.” And out of all of them, “Embrace the Galaxy”… falls somewhere in the middle.

This is an album with strong songwriting and performances. It’s not guilty of just having one instrument wizard who steals the show while the other members do the bare minimum. It SOUNDS like a fully capable band playing and constructing good songs. The vocalist is strong too, even if he sounds like his mouth is full of pizza most of the time.

The density is strong, with shimmering keyboard notes and spacey ambient pads adding layers of melody and ambience to the Metal instrumentation. The keyboardist Richard Andersson is smart in that he uses many different synth effects rather than sticking to one that becomes overdone by track 3. There are electronic synths, but also synthed strings, horns, harpsichord, and other sound effects. The core band sounds great, not unique, but not lacking in any way.

Why does this album fall in the middle then? Well, it’s got no real weaknesses, but it also doesn’t have any strengths separating it from contemporaries either. Of course the playing is phenomenal, but that goes for every Neoclassical Metal album (double for Progressive Neoclassical Metal like this). It doesn’t have any particular riffs, choruses or solos that blow my mind or get caught in my head. The composers are great at playing notes in key, but not great at playing notes that evoke feeling or emotion. Which is annoying, because in Richard Andersson’s previous band Majestic, ALL of those points were hit successfully. This has a space theme and sound, if that counts for anything, but aside from that it won’t break the ceiling beyond being more than another strong Neoclassical album.