Redemption - I Am the Storm (March 17, 2023)

[outprogged42]

March has been a month of significant releases to me for years, and 2023 doesn't seem to be an exception. Finally some new music from Redemption after hearing almost nothing for a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWrXVDeLv1A

This is supposed to be a straightforward, brutally heavy metal song and there's a lot more diversity on the album itself. I heard the teaser and was happy with the riffage in general, but it did sound almost completely like current Evergrey. It still does to some extent, though the melodic pre-chorus, increased technicality in the solo parts, positive lyrical style, and more pervasive use of odd meters distinguish it as Redemption. I'm surprised that this was produced by the band, as I was pretty confident it was a Jacob Hansen production.

Not sure yet what to expect other than what Vikram has stated about the content. Heavier, more cinematic, yet as progressive as Long Night's Journey Into Day, with Vikram involved more in the songwriting and, I believe, Tom to some extent as well.

[GaetanL]

2 Bonus tracks available on vinyl not available on a CD edition. I'm not happy at all.

[Sir Exar Kun]

2 Bonus tracks available on vinyl not available on a CD edition. I'm not happy at all.

And it looks like both are original, non-album tracks, while the actual CD has two cover tunes. I love a good cover as much as anyone, but would rather have the two originals......

Nick, help us out here

[nvandyk]

Working on it.

[outprogged42]

The third song is a proggy epic over 8 minutes long. Lots of twists and turns and plenty of smoothing over odd meters, and Vikram's influence on the keys is quite significant. The lyrical content is superb as always.

I think there's one more coming out, right?

[nvandyk]

Label wants to just release the record and then do a "focused" single post-release for a fourth song. In addition, we will probably work on a proper video for Seven Minutes.

The bonus tracks will be issued as digital singles at some point following release.

Glad you like the new song (Remember the Dawn). It's probably my favorite track on the new record.

[GaetanL]

The bonus tracks will be issued as digital singles at some point following release.

I hope they will be available as flac download (sites like Bandcamp, HDTracks, ...). It's my only acceptable alternative when it's not available on CD.

I still would have prefered the bonus tracks on CD. I would have paid the extra for a special edition. I'm not using vinyls. I'm willing to pay the extra for the bonus tracks but I can't. It's frustating. If they are not at least available as flac download, then it will be even more frustating.

Thanks Nick for having taken the time to talk to the record label about that. I will at least buy the CD and hope to be able to buy the bonus tracks as flac download soon. Wav files are also ok (I can convert them to flac without loss). All my CDs are ripped in flac.

Madsword - How Much Progress...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoHc602q92g
Some technologies have shattered what I love in life.

[nvandyk]

The reality is -- we thought we were going to write two full CDs during COVID. We normally do one cover per CD, hence to the two covers. We reached the point where we could have two CDs "in the can" as they say, but we decided a few songs weren't ready. And the label, understandably, wanted something. So we figured rather than take a six month break and finish a few songs, let's take everything we have and put it out.

Hence, the album with a lot of bonus material. Hence the two covers. Hence songs with friends & guests who are incredible musicians that somehow end up as bonus tracks.

This is all just an FYI. But I promise, we aren't trying to cheat anybody.

[outprogged42]

I just received the CD in the mail and finished the entire thing just now. This album's themes are extremely relevant to me right now and to the places I've been since 2018, so I was eagerly awaiting the release. My overall impressions:

It's a pretty melodic album in general, one of the least aggressive Redemption albums (maybe even the least aggressive in total). Some of it is due to the production style, a little less sharp than the last couple of albums and more smooth (done in-house this time). The title track is a barn-burner, yet Resilience is more rock-influenced than what I was expecting, like mid-90's Megadeth. Megadeth, of course, has been a primary influence for a while, and songs like Seven Minutes From Sunset show that off prominently in the style of solos and the chord choices used by the guitars, but Tom even sounds like Dave Mustaine on this particular song, spitefully calling out an enemy and all. There are a lot of fast runs down the strings in the riffs and less chunky riffs than before. The bass is pushed a bit more to the back, with one particularly cool funky solo showing up at the end of the album, and a few other solo spots showing up here and there, and the drums are calmed down a little - this feels more like a guitar and keys album. Vikram adds a lot of new sounds to the band, from futuristic synth sounds, cinematic and sumptuous strings to layered BGV's, and allows the band to push into new territories, as well as accentuating the prog-rock elements of Redemption's sound - a few sections in the long epics recall old Genesis, even without considering there is an actual Genesis cover on the album.

The lyrics can veer a bit more into the abstract than usual, matching the more abstract and experimental tones added by Vikram on keyboards. The most obvious example is The Emotional Depiction of Light, the tune everyone's talking about as a big change in sound. It has very strong flavors of the Silent Skies project, with the thick, rich piano, reverb-laden vocals, grand strings, and processed percussion (even more so in the Vikram mix). The bright guitars that come in later add more dimension to the piece and the amount of overlapping vocal tracks feels almost like overkill, but the result is mindblowing when it gets to the part with every line ending in "together." Lyrically, it's the closest thing to a love song I've heard from Redemption, but a very deep one, about wanting to be fully seen and known (from my interpretation). Think something like "The Size of Light on Earth" by Subsignal sonically, mixed with some of the Redemption epics but in six minutes. It's very difficult to describe this song and it has to be heard. Other themes include resilience of all types, the connection between all things in the universe (Action at a Distance), and "seize the day" (All This Time And Not Enough). The latter ends the album and has a much darker tone than the rest of the album, and some of the lines really struck me powerfully on an emotional level. It feels more sobering than triumphant like all the other Redemption album closers, and also doesn't end with a massive inspirational choir either.

I do wish this album had gotten its second part as Nick describes below. A lot of it feels a bit incomplete on first listen, and it's not nearly as immediate as other albums. I quite like it, but would not rank it at the top of the Redemption echelon.

Top cuts: Seven Minutes From Sunset, Remember the Dawn, The Emotional Depiction of Light, All This Time (And Not Enough)

[nvandyk]

So, thanks very much for listening and for posting your thoughts.

I have come back here a few times recently (mostly to read) and I am looking forward to being a contributing member of this community as soon as I get out from under the horrific workload that is staring at me. My point being: I'm not just coming here to read what people think of Redemption, or to respond to criticism or be defensive about it. Although of course I'm interested in what people that I know and respect (you folks among them) have to say about the work, and where I can illuminate some decisions without being defensive, I'm happy to do so.

I think this record, more than anything we have done, has people on both sides of the fence. I have had more people complain about the mix being too aggressive / heavy and the keys being buried and it all being guitar and drums here than on any record we have done, and several people that generally like what we do have dismissed this as being too heavy. So it's interesting to see you have the opposite comment -- that the keys share the stage with guitar, that the mix isn't particularly heavy (Simone, for what it's worth, is very in demand now and one of the top people in mixing anywhere, in addition to being IMO one of the top five guitarists in the world -- very lucky to work with him in both capacities).

I guess my point is: everybody's ears are unique. And thank God for that. In my opinion, it's the best mix we've had on any record. I hear the bass better than ever before, I hear the drums better than ever before, and it's quite heavy IMO.

Others have complained about the track listing. The reality is, we have 55 minutes of original music on the CD. That's plenty and if we'd only released that much music, nobody would say the CD isn't long enough.

As I said before, we were going to do two CDs, and recorded the two covers before the second CD of music was fully done. We could have waited another 3-4 months to finish writing, and then had enough for two CDs, and released one, and sat on the other music for another 12-18 months or whatever. Instead, we made the decision to release everything that was done. It wouldn't fit on one CD, so we put as much on one CD as we could, and the rest fit on a double vinyl. Doesn't seem like a catastrophic decision to me, but I can see how folks might be confused. I've spoken with the label, and the two other songs will be released digitally at some point. I'm frankly pretty happy that anybody cares enough to want more music, so thank you to those who do! The two songs we didn't release on this CD are quite good -- worthy of inclusion on the main release, with great guitar solos from our beloved guests Chris and Henrik. But I could either release them as bonus tracks, or sit on them for 12-18 months. I didn't want to do that latter.

With respect to Emotional Depiction, when I heard the demo from Vikram I thought it had the chance to be pretty special. He sent a lot of material and it wasn't even something that he thought was a definite thing to be included -- but one listen and I knew it could be great. I'm gratified that people seem to have latched on to it. When we do stuff like that -- as was the case with Black & White World -- it's a bit of a risk. But if it works, as I think this one does, it's pretty cool to see people connect with it.

I'm glad you like the big messy overdubbed outro. I will confess I love that part too, but there is a LOT going on lol. And because what Vikram brought to the table was so special, and because he is *also* becoming quite an outstanding talent when it comes to mixing, I wanted him to have a crack at getting the sound as close as possible to what he had in his head when he surrendered the key track to me. I think his version is outstanding and different enough from the album version to warrant inclusion as a valuable bonus track.

You might be intrigued to know about where the inspiration for the song came from. it is indeed pretty close to a love song, but it formed differently than you would expect. The name came from a conversation with a guy who works for me who's very educated and studied art history among many other things. We had gone through the Musee d'Orsay, which is an Impressionist museum in Paris, when we were over there on a work trip. I asked him how Impression was defined relative to the periods of art that came before and after it. He said "Impressionism is about the emotional depiction of light." I loved that turn of phrase and kept it in the back of my mind for future use.

I paired that concept with a takeaway from an episode of Bojack Horseman, believe it or not.* The episode concerns Bojack doing a eulogy for his mother, with whom he had a complex but terrible relationship. He says her final words were "I see you." He muses whether this means "I see [through] you: you're a horrible person with a trail of wrecked relationships and terrible addiction." Or whether it means "I see you for the individual you are, and recognize your humanity and accept you as a person with dignity." Or whether it simply means "ICU...intensive care unit...because that's where she was at the time."

Anyhow, I thought the idea of recognizing one's humanity in another person and all that implies (the ability to connect with them, the concept of empathy, etc.) was a powerful one. So combining that with the art history concept and the notion of human connection being so important and increasingly rare in a world where technology facilitates detachment and walls between us (the "digital walls" spoken of in the lyrics), we got a song that people seem to like a lot.

Anyhoo...glad you thought enough of the music to talk about it. I truly hope you enjoy it and that my ramblings were a net positive on that scale.

Be well, and thanks again!



*For the uninitiated, it's an animated show about a half-man, half-horse washed up actor who is trying to relive his glory days of acting in a 1980s sitcom but he's become an alcoholic, drug-addled mess with a trail of ruined relationships a mile wide behind him. Despite that bleak description, it's HILARIOUSLY funny.

[outprogged42]

So, thanks very much for listening and for posting your thoughts.

I have come back here a few times recently (mostly to read) and I am looking forward to being a contributing member of this community as soon as I get out from under the horrific workload that is staring at me. My point being: I'm not just coming here to read what people think of Redemption, or to respond to criticism or be defensive about it. Although of course I'm interested in what people that I know and respect (you folks among them) have to say about the work, and where I can illuminate some decisions without being defensive, I'm happy to do so.

I think this record, more than anything we have done, has people on both sides of the fence. I have had more people complain about the mix being too aggressive / heavy and the keys being buried and it all being guitar and drums here than on any record we have done, and several people that generally like what we do have dismissed this as being too heavy. So it's interesting to see you have the opposite comment -- that the keys share the stage with guitar, that the mix isn't particularly heavy (Simone, for what it's worth, is very in demand now and one of the top people in mixing anywhere, in addition to being IMO one of the top five guitarists in the world -- very lucky to work with him in both capacities).

I guess my point is: everybody's ears are unique. And thank God for that. In my opinion, it's the best mix we've had on any record. I hear the bass better than ever before, I hear the drums better than ever before, and it's quite heavy IMO.

Others have complained about the track listing. The reality is, we have 55 minutes of original music on the CD. That's plenty and if we'd only released that much music, nobody would say the CD isn't long enough.

As I said before, we were going to do two CDs, and recorded the two covers before the second CD of music was fully done. We could have waited another 3-4 months to finish writing, and then had enough for two CDs, and released one, and sat on the other music for another 12-18 months or whatever. Instead, we made the decision to release everything that was done. It wouldn't fit on one CD, so we put as much on one CD as we could, and the rest fit on a double vinyl. Doesn't seem like a catastrophic decision to me, but I can see how folks might be confused. I've spoken with the label, and the two other songs will be released digitally at some point. I'm frankly pretty happy that anybody cares enough to want more music, so thank you to those who do! The two songs we didn't release on this CD are quite good -- worthy of inclusion on the main release, with great guitar solos from our beloved guests Chris and Henrik. But I could either release them as bonus tracks, or sit on them for 12-18 months. I didn't want to do that latter.

With respect to Emotional Depiction, when I heard the demo from Vikram I thought it had the chance to be pretty special. He sent a lot of material and it wasn't even something that he thought was a definite thing to be included -- but one listen and I knew it could be great. I'm gratified that people seem to have latched on to it. When we do stuff like that -- as was the case with Black & White World -- it's a bit of a risk. But if it works, as I think this one does, it's pretty cool to see people connect with it.

I'm glad you like the big messy overdubbed outro. I will confess I love that part too, but there is a LOT going on lol. And because what Vikram brought to the table was so special, and because he is *also* becoming quite an outstanding talent when it comes to mixing, I wanted him to have a crack at getting the sound as close as possible to what he had in his head when he surrendered the key track to me. I think his version is outstanding and different enough from the album version to warrant inclusion as a valuable bonus track.

You might be intrigued to know about where the inspiration for the song came from. it is indeed pretty close to a love song, but it formed differently than you would expect. The name came from a conversation with a guy who works for me who's very educated and studied art history among many other things. We had gone through the Musee d'Orsay, which is an Impressionist museum in Paris, when we were over there on a work trip. I asked him how Impression was defined relative to the periods of art that came before and after it. He said "Impressionism is about the emotional depiction of light." I loved that turn of phrase and kept it in the back of my mind for future use.

I paired that concept with a takeaway from an episode of Bojack Horseman, believe it or not.* The episode concerns Bojack doing a eulogy for his mother, with whom he had a complex but terrible relationship. He says her final words were "I see you." He muses whether this means "I see [through] you: you're a horrible person with a trail of wrecked relationships and terrible addiction." Or whether it means "I see you for the individual you are, and recognize your humanity and accept you as a person with dignity." Or whether it simply means "ICU...intensive care unit...because that's where she was at the time."

Anyhow, I thought the idea of recognizing one's humanity in another person and all that implies (the ability to connect with them, the concept of empathy, etc.) was a powerful one. So combining that with the art history concept and the notion of human connection being so important and increasingly rare in a world where technology facilitates detachment and walls between us (the "digital walls" spoken of in the lyrics), we got a song that people seem to like a lot.

Anyhoo...glad you thought enough of the music to talk about it. I truly hope you enjoy it and that my ramblings were a net positive on that scale.

Be well, and thanks again!



*For the uninitiated, it's an animated show about a half-man, half-horse washed up actor who is trying to relive his glory days of acting in a 1980s sitcom but he's become an alcoholic, drug-addled mess with a trail of ruined relationships a mile wide behind him. Despite that bleak description, it's HILARIOUSLY funny.

I'm glad to hear a lot more insight into Emotional Depiction as well as your perceptions of the praise and constructive criticism. I honestly thought this album was another Jacob Hansen mix when I first heard the title track because it had a similar tone. I really love his mixing style and felt that he brought a very keen sharpness and instrument separation to the last album that isn't present on this one as much, but it is more organic as a flipside. The only thing that's generally a point of contention with his mixes is that they can be over-processed. The drums in particular tend to sound very distinctive and I'd recognize that tone anywhere. This one has enough punch to sound heavy and also has good dynamic range (about the same as the last one).

This is definitely Simone's album to shine. He feels like a permanent member by now and has made a distinctive enough imprint on the sound for the band to feel different than the albums since The Art of Loss.

Just by hearing the two bonus track titles, I could see how they might fit well into the theme of the album. If I may guess lyrical themes: "The Pearl Clutchers" = holding on to the good things you got or will get out of going through something difficult, and "The Far Side of the Clouds" = light is the furthest thing from one's mind when in a dark time, but it's there.

I'm getting more into the longer epics with more listening (mostly All This Time, but the chorus of Action at a Distance is pretty smooth and memorable), and I'm enjoying the Turn It On Again cover also. How did you decide to cover that song? It's quite fun.

We used to talk about faith a lot and I couldn't help but think of St. John Paul II's theological vision of personhood and love when reading the lyrics to Emotional Depiction, and its interpretation by theologians like Christopher West. He once said that "intimacy" is even better rendered as "into-me-see." That to be genuinely intimate with someone in any sense, is to see into the very heart and essence of another and have the other do the same in return, with acceptance implied (perhaps important given the multi-layered implications of the phrase "I see you" that you shared). I may be sharing this song with our study group because it captured that idea better than almost any love song has. This is a pretty daring and original piece, and I appreciate you adding in so much information to enhance that view and show me why it's such a special song.

[nvandyk]

I'm glad to hear a lot more insight into Emotional Depiction as well as your perceptions of the praise and constructive criticism. I honestly thought this album was another Jacob Hansen mix when I first heard the title track because it had a similar tone. I really love his mixing style and felt that he brought a very keen sharpness and instrument separation to the last album that isn't present on this one as much, but it is more organic as a flipside. The only thing that's generally a point of contention with his mixes is that they can be over-processed. The drums in particular tend to sound very distinctive and I'd recognize that tone anywhere. This one has enough punch to sound heavy and also has good dynamic range (about the same as the last one).

We started with Jacob. He's fantastic, but frankly he overbooked himself and it took literally months and we had to move on. To be clear: I have nothing but respect for the guy.

That said, his drums to me *do* sound over-processed. The reason our previous record took him longer than usual to mix is I kept pushing and pushing to hear tonality in the drums, without compression. Most modern European metal uses drums that sound like his and most fans over there like it -- they think the drums that I enjoy sound old. And perhaps they do. But when a drummer has four toms and does a roll around the kit, I want each to have its own identity and not just sound -- to use a phrase once employed by our good friend Ken Golden -- like a bunch of phone books being slapped with something. I think Simone got the drum mix to a great place.

This is definitely Simone's album to shine. He feels like a permanent member by now and has made a distinctive enough imprint on the sound for the band to feel different than the albums since The Art of Loss.

He's an incredible guitarist and an even better person. Tom gets 100% credit for bringing us together (and for Vikram, as well).

Just by hearing the two bonus track titles, I could see how they might fit well into the theme of the album. If I may guess lyrical themes: "The Pearl Clutchers" = holding on to the good things you got or will get out of going through something difficult, and "The Far Side of the Clouds" = light is the furthest thing from one's mind when in a dark time, but it's there.

You're relatively close on the second one. The first one is about what Chris Rock recently called "selective outrage" and cancel culture / FAFO. When somebody is awful to somebody and it comes back on them and they need a fainting couch and play the victim. That faux shock at experiencing repercussions of their actions is akin to "pearl clutching."

I'm getting more into the longer epics with more listening (mostly All This Time, but the chorus of Action at a Distance is pretty smooth and memorable), and I'm enjoying the Turn It On Again cover also. How did you decide to cover that song? It's quite fun.

I've always gravitated to wanting to re-imagine songs for covers, being true to the original songwriting (unlike, say, Nevermore's Sound of Silence) but also making them heavy. I think the first time I was cognizant of this was the Crosseyed Mary cover from Iron Maiden that I had on my Piece of Mind picture disc. Nobody needs to hear a new version of Run to the Hills -- the original can't be improved upon. So metal songs have never been of interest. But there's so much good songwriting from outside metal that can be reversioned into metal while maintaining the character of the song.

Mid-period Genesis (after they started writing accessible music, but before they became really watered-down pop) has always been a favorite, and this song has also always been a favorite. We tried it a few years back but it wasn't happening. I'm not sure what made me try it again. We had planned on doing Red Rain because the song is great, and Tom sounds like Peter, and the live version (which is the one we used as our North Star for this) is basically a six minute drum solo and I thought it would be great for Chris to stretch out. I had to keep pushing him to overplay, because he is normally so tasteful and restrained.

Anyhow I sent the Genesis track to Tom because I thought the music turned out well, and he took a crack at it and the vocals sounded so great to us both that it actually nudged Red Rain out of the track list. Of course that bonus track is readily available so it didn't really get pushed too far.

We used to talk about faith a lot and I couldn't help but think of St. John Paul II's theological vision of personhood and love when reading the lyrics to Emotional Depiction, and its interpretation by theologians like Christopher West.

I'm gratified that there is a positive association there. It would be disingenuous of me to suggest I had any particular clue about the particulars you reference, though. I had to even think about who St. JP2 was, and I don't know who Christopher West is. That probably makes me a poor Catholic but I am counting on Forgiving Grace for far more severe shortcomings than that ignorance.

He once said that "intimacy" is even better rendered as "into-me-see." That to be genuinely intimate with someone in any sense, is to see into the very heart and essence of another and have the other do the same in return, with acceptance implied (perhaps important given the multi-layered implications of the phrase "I see you" that you shared).

That's a lovely and profound definition.

The other statement that is relevant, from a far more secular source, was made by Roger Waters. He said that the message of his entire body of work can be summed up as "Walking down the street, I encounter a stranger, and I recognize my humanity in him, and hope that he recognizes his humanity in me." So while this concept of recognition certainly occurs at a profound level in an intimate relationship, it is also on a fundamental level the basis for any kind of humane society and the bedrock of empathy itself.

I may be sharing this song with our study group because it captured that idea better than almost any love song has. This is a pretty daring and original piece, and I appreciate you adding in so much information to enhance that view and show me why it's such a special song.

It would be an honor if I have provided you with anything of substance for such a discussion. It will give me one more item on the "good side of the ledger" for any upcoming discussions with St. Peter.

[outprogged42]

Responses in italics.

We started with Jacob. He's fantastic, but frankly he overbooked himself and it took literally months and we had to move on. To be clear: I have nothing but respect for the guy.

That said, his drums to me *do* sound over-processed. The reason our previous record took him longer than usual to mix is I kept pushing and pushing to hear tonality in the drums, without compression. Most modern European metal uses drums that sound like his and most fans over there like it -- they think the drums that I enjoy sound old. And perhaps they do. But when a drummer has four toms and does a roll around the kit, I want each to have its own identity and not just sound -- to use a phrase once employed by our good friend Ken Golden -- like a bunch of phone books being slapped with something. I think Simone got the drum mix to a great place.

Fair point. Can't disagree with your analysis. Amaranthe is one of those bands with a highly processed sound that the local market likes.

You're relatively close on the second one. The first one is about what Chris Rock recently called "selective outrage" and cancel culture / FAFO. When somebody is awful to somebody and it comes back on them and they need a fainting couch and play the victim. That faux shock at experiencing repercussions of their actions is akin to "pearl clutching."

Hmmm. Interesting topic for today's world that goes along with songs like The Echo Chamber and Little Men. Curious to hear how this will sound. My guess is heavy.

Mid-period Genesis (after they started writing accessible music, but before they became really watered-down pop) has always been a favorite, and this song has also always been a favorite. We tried it a few years back but it wasn't happening. I'm not sure what made me try it again. We had planned on doing Red Rain because the song is great, and Tom sounds like Peter, and the live version (which is the one we used as our North Star for this) is basically a six minute drum solo and I thought it would be great for Chris to stretch out. I had to keep pushing him to overplay, because he is normally so tasteful and restrained.

Tom does nail Red Rain - I hadn't listened to it until this post and it didn't even sound like a cover. The slow dirge is classic Evergrey in style but with more drums that might mark it as Redemption. Yes, Chris is playing a fair amount, but it doesn't feel overdone.

I'm gratified that there is a positive association there. It would be disingenuous of me to suggest I had any particular clue about the particulars you reference, though. I had to even think about who St. JP2 was, and I don't know who Christopher West is. That probably makes me a poor Catholic but I am counting on Forgiving Grace for far more severe shortcomings than that ignorance.

Christopher West is the most well-known commentator on Theology of the Body. It's known as the "Catholic sex talk" but is WAY more than that. A lot of profound insight into the nature of the human person and what authentic love and intimacy should be.

The other statement that is relevant, from a far more secular source, was made by Roger Waters. He said that the message of his entire body of work can be summed up as "Walking down the street, I encounter a stranger, and I recognize my humanity in him, and hope that he recognizes his humanity in me." So while this concept of recognition certainly occurs at a profound level in an intimate relationship, it is also on a fundamental level the basis for any kind of humane society and the bedrock of empathy itself.

I really like this quote as well.

It would be an honor if I have provided you with anything of substance for such a discussion. It will give me one more item on the "good side of the ledger" for any upcoming discussions with St. Peter.

I actually submitted At Day's End to our group leader for a playlist about TOB above and I was very pleasantly surprised that she actually accepted a 22-minute prog-metal epic to it! No doubt she will appreciate this song as well. You do continue to inspire me spiritually and the lyrics of the album as a whole have hit me at a particularly important time in my life. In my PMs to you I tell some back story not terribly relevant to this forum and we could certainly continue there.

[Sir Exar Kun]

I do wish this album had gotten its second part as Nick describes below. A lot of it feels a bit incomplete on first listen, and it's not nearly as immediate as other albums. I quite like it, but would not rank it at the top of the Redemption echelon.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "incomplete", but I do think the CD version has an odd flow to it, that by the end feels a bit jarring. It's sort of like Game of Thrones.... For seven seasons you move along at a slow, patient pace, then you hit season 8 and it feels like a sprint all of a sudden..... The sequence of tracks on the CD version feels a bit like that..... Five relatively traditional tracks, sixth is an epic (and it is KILLER!!!!), seventh is a cover, eighth is an epic, ninth is a remix of track four, and then another cover. Leaves a bit of a strange sensation finishing it up. I am very anxious to get the other two tracks, and see how those impact my opinion on the flow.....

Regardless of the above, this disc is (of course) fantastic! "Long Night" might be my favorite OVERALL Redemption album (first half of "Fullness" is utterly UNTOUCHABLE), and hit at a very significant time for me.... Songs like "Echo Chamber" and "And Yet" I was instantly hitting the back button to listen to over again.

"Storm" does not have that same immediacy, but what it does have in spades are CHOPS. Oh my GODS the leads on this album are stunning. I thought that on the last album, and actually wondered if maybe there was TOO MUCH shredding on that one (if that is even possible?!?) but here it absolutely SHINES. The musicianship exhibited just continues to grow with each release. What I find a bit lacking ON FIRST LISTEN ONLY compared to "Long Night" are the vocal hooks. Tom sounds great, but missing that large melodic chorus hook that just pulls me right in. No doubt this will start to grow more on me as I come back to it.

Personally, I much prefer the not-as-thrashy side of Redemption, so this album falls right in my sweet spot. The more technical the better, at which this album succeeds. Can't wait to listen to it more, and (as expected) strong album of the year contender!

[LarryD]

As one who has a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth, I am loving the new Redemption ....... I initially thought that they were going to go in an even more thrashy direction, but like Sir Exar said, this one hits the sweet spot for me with the glorious melodies and chops galore ....... I do have a hard time hearing Tom in Redemption as I love him in Evergrey, and I love Ray in Redemption, but since I need to get over that, NIck seems to have written these melodies with Tom in mind specifically, and the result is a different "version" of Redemption, which works perfectly for me. There are a couple of songs that do go over my head in the vocal melody dept, but it's really nit-picking here and wanting every song to blow me away like most of them do .....

I truly believe that Nick is one of the most underrated players and especially writers in progressive metal in our metal lifetime ....... this is truly melodic progressive metal in the best way possible. Kudos to him for somehow finding a way to make Redemption sound truly significant in 2023 progressive metal.

[Mardoch]

This album feels very much like Origins of Ruin for me, which is great because that's one of my favorite Redemption albums and was also tremendously affective for me.

[LarryD]

This album feels very much like Origins of Ruin for me, which is great because that's one of my favorite Redemption albums and was also tremendously affective for me.

***Same here -- Origins of Ruins is my favorite as well although the song Sapphire from Fullness remains dear to my heart ....... the writing and the melodies on the new one are just incredible ........

[nvandyk]

Thanks for the kind words, gents! I'm glad you are finding things to like about the new record.

We just shot a video last week. Brace yourself -- it's going to break a trend in prog metal videos by not taking itself too seriously. I'm not sure how its going to turn out yet as some of it is going to be pretty goofy but I'm looking forward to seeing it come together!

[Random Axe]

I've always kept this to myself, but Tom in the band hasn't worked for me. I know it's just me. Nick knows how I feel about the band and what their albums have pulled me through. My narrow-minded brain so far won't allow me to process anyone but Ray singing with Nick's compositions.

I'm going to try to change that. I'm ordering the new one and will approach with as open of a mind as I can. I've been known for being incredibly myopic with certain aspects of my so-called life. It's a character flaw I suppose. But, I will always have Nick's back and be a friend and fan even if I can't get into everything he releases.

[LarryD]

I've always kept this to myself, but Tom in the band hasn't worked for me. I know it's just me. Nick knows how I feel about the band and what their albums have pulled me through. My narrow-minded brain so far won't allow me to process anyone but Ray singing with Nick's compositions.

I'm going to try to change that. I'm ordering the new one and will approach with as open of a mind as I can. I've been known for being incredibly myopic with certain aspects of my so-called life. It's a character flaw I suppose. But, I will always have Nick's back and be a friend and fan even if I can't get into everything he releases.

****Don't feel alone .... I am notorious for not liking change within some of my favorite bands ....... and Tom did not work for me in Redemption just like I had trouble with Tommy in Kamelot ....... if not for anything, two of my favorite singers were being replaced.

That changed ( at least with Redemption ) on this new disc, which is kicking my ass totally. The playing and vocal melodies are just fabulous here, and this is Top 3 material for me this year. I am completely blown away by this disc.

[GaetanL]

You might be intrigued to know about where the inspiration for the song came from. it is indeed pretty close to a love song, but it formed differently than you would expect. The name came from a conversation with a guy who works for me who's very educated and studied art history among many other things. We had gone through the Musee d'Orsay, which is an Impressionist museum in Paris, when we were over there on a work trip. I asked him how Impression was defined relative to the periods of art that came before and after it. He said "Impressionism is about the emotional depiction of light." I loved that turn of phrase and kept it in the back of my mind for future use.

I paired that concept with a takeaway from an episode of Bojack Horseman, believe it or not.* The episode concerns Bojack doing a eulogy for his mother, with whom he had a complex but terrible relationship. He says her final words were "I see you." He muses whether this means "I see [through] you: you're a horrible person with a trail of wrecked relationships and terrible addiction." Or whether it means "I see you for the individual you are, and recognize your humanity and accept you as a person with dignity." Or whether it simply means "ICU...intensive care unit...because that's where she was at the time."

Anyhow, I thought the idea of recognizing one's humanity in another person and all that implies (the ability to connect with them, the concept of empathy, etc.) was a powerful one. So combining that with the art history concept and the notion of human connection being so important and increasingly rare in a world where technology facilitates detachment and walls between us (the "digital walls" spoken of in the lyrics), we got a song that people seem to like a lot.

I indeed like the song "The Emotional Depiction Of Light" a lot! Thanks Nick for having shared where the inspiration came from. Very useful to understand better the meaning of the song.

[dspot]

How are the two bonus tracks on the vinyl edition? Has anyone heard them?