Review by Saxy S for Ayreon - Transitus (2020)

I do not have a problem with Arjen Lucassen breaking away from the “Forever” plotline. His 2013 album, The Theory of Everything, was everything that it needed to be; having the distinctive timbre of an Ayreon album, a fully loaded list of guest features, and a remarkable story connecting it all together. And, most importantly, it was the essential jumping on point for people like myself who wanted to discover the world of Ayreon, without having to go through a university course in understanding the lore (I’m looking at you Coheed and Cambria)!

So I was mostly excited to hear the band break off once again to tell a story all its own and it is certainly a good album, but I have a difficult time calling anything better than that. This does not even live up to the expectations of the bands worst albums.

Story is of course important in a rock opera and I feel like Arjen dropped the ball here. Transitus is, if we are being completely honest, a modified version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; two star crossed lovers whose relationship is destined to fail and will bring down everyone else with it. The album’s setting is in the years of 1883 and 1884, and (minor spoiler) Arjen’s selection of Oceans of Slumber’s Cammie Gilbert as Abby is intentional, and the song “Dumb Piece of Rock” pretty much assures it. It is not a bad thing by any stretch, but perhaps these ideas could have been developed further, rather than “hey this is here!”. There are also major issues with Amanda Sommerville’s character, Lavinia, in the second half that I will not go into further.

Outside of that, the cast of characters is impressive: I already mentioned Cammie Gilbert and Amanda Sommerville, but you also have Tommy Karevik of Kamelot, Simone Simons of Epica, Dee Snider from Twisted Sister, and guitar solo features from Joe Satriani and Marty Friedman. And the production of this record is stellar, as you would expect. The vocal harmonies of the Angel of Death’s furries are excellent and mixed wonderfully, the wide array of instrumentation from flutes, violins, horns and even a hurdy gurdy are all given ample amounts of space to breathe during their features.

However, Transitus is nowhere near as concise as previous albums like The Theory of Everything. Almost two thirds of the record is short interlude songs that don’t fully develop or deliver much of a decisive punch as “Listen to My Story” or “Message from Beyond” do. Some themes do return throughout the record, such as the reprise of “This Human Equation” on the song “Your Story is Over!”, or how “Daniel’s Vision” borrows explicitly from “Seven Days, Seven Nights”. But they serve as simple callbacks, rather than as development of those themes.

I think the part that pissed me off the most is that this record is accompanied by a short comic book. I should not need prerequisite material in order to enjoy your album! Thankfully, Tom Baker begins every song with a preamble in order to understand what is going on, but Ayreon never needed that! The Human Equation, The Theory of Everything, The Source did not need narration. This feels like a step down for Arjen. I will recommend it based on quality and firepower alone, but do not be surprised if this album gets designated to musical purgatory (pun intended).