Vanden Plas - The Empyrean Equation of the Long Lost Things

[LarryD]

Just got my copy fresh from The Lasers Edge and I had no doubt in my mind that this would be another killer Vanden Plas disc .... and it is. I am not sure where to begin except that this band is one of the few left in the Prog Metal world that I will buy blind and will continue to do so until they or me run out of steam ....from the sound of this one it would appear that I will run out of steam long before them .......

I am particularly amazed at two things .....one is that they continue to keep on putting out songs that are melodic, dramatic and epic after almost 30 years of doing it...sure you could come up with some instant comparisons as to which disc before that this one resembles, but that is expected and I move past that ...... the other thing is how wonderful Andy Kuntz still sounds after all these years ......he has not skipped a beat, hits a few high notes, and just carries the music along as he always has.....

The disc is just under 60:00 long ....complete with a 15:11 closer called March of the Saints......I feel bad saying that it sounds like Gunther Werner is missing but to me this sounds like classic Vanden Plas as if he never left ......

If you are on the fence about buying this, and need to know what it does sound like .... then I would have to say that it's a continuation of the sound and lyrics from Christ O .......cinematic, thematic, lots of God references, and tons of vocal harmonies .......the production sounds clean, fresh, and polished - one of their better sounds I would have to say. It has a much fuller sound than some of the older material but that has to be expected .....

It is such a great feeling when one of your favorite bands from the old days of internet prog are not only still around, but can still put out quality music with such passion like this one ......I absolutely love it ......

[Sir Exar Kun]

Looking forward to hearing the whole album. I listened to the first single, and it confirmed that they sound every bit as good as ever.... There were a few keyboard tones that sounded unlike Gunther, but overall Alessando fits in perfectly.

And Andy...... He should be teaching ALL the young singers how to protect their voice, as he is AMAZING.

[giedrius]

I agree 100% to what Larry says, it's an excellent album and I am very happy after my first few listens. Seems that this new release Friday is one of the better ones

[LarryD]

This just gets better with each listen ..... such an amazing feat for this band after all these years....... and like Sir Exar said, Andy should be an example to all of these young singers on how to preserve your voice after 30+ years of doing this ..... to hear him hit these high notes as if it was like 20 years ago is just mindblowing ......

[introclaus]

I'm through the album once now, and I'm sorry (but probably not surprisingly) to say that it does little for me. I have always appreciated the band for what they do - I've seen them live a few times, and I enjoy listening to especially their earlier albums like "The God Thing", "Christ O" and "Colour Temple" (also the "Accult" EP was cool), but most of their albums run together for me, and I quickly loose interest in listening to them. This one is no different; it's extremely well done composition wise, the production sounds nice to my ears, great performances from everyone, but it's just "boring" to my ears. There's no danger to it, there are no taking-chances, there's nothing boundary-pushing ... it's all just "there" and "fine". Andy is a good singer, but also a bit tough to listen to in that high register, which obviously goes with the territory. All German prog metal bands from that era tends to sound this way singer-wise (Dreamscape, Ivanhoe, Lanfear....). Again, I don't have anything really negative to say about it, it's just one of those albums that's really well composed, well performed, yet doesn't manage to connect with me on an emotional level. I'll give it another spin later, but I don't expect it to change too much. I'm happy though that y'all love it so much - the old school prog metal scene has been quite uneventful for a while, so it's good we all get an album like this

[LarryD]

I'm through the album once now, and I'm sorry (but probably not surprisingly) to say that it does little for me. I have always appreciated the band for what they do - I've seen them live a few times, and I enjoy listening to especially their earlier albums like "The God Thing", "Christ O" and "Colour Temple" (also the "Accult" EP was cool), but most of their albums run together for me, and I quickly loose interest in listening to them. This one is no different; it's extremely well done composition wise, the production sounds nice to my ears, great performances from everyone, but it's just "boring" to my ears. There's no danger to it, there are no taking-chances, there's nothing boundary-pushing ... it's all just "there" and "fine". Andy is a good singer, but also a bit tough to listen to in that high register, which obviously goes with the territory. All German prog metal bands from that era tends to sound this way singer-wise (Dreamscape, Ivanhoe, Lanfear....). Again, I don't have anything really negative to say about it, it's just one of those albums that's really well composed, well performed, yet doesn't manage to connect with me on an emotional level. I'll give it another spin later, but I don't expect it to change too much. I'm happy though that y'all love it so much - the old school prog metal scene has been quite uneventful for a while, so it's good we all get an album like this

****I forgot to tell you that you were banned from posting anything Vanden Plas related ......... shoo. Go away ........

[introclaus]

I'm through the album once now, and I'm sorry (but probably not surprisingly) to say that it does little for me. I have always appreciated the band for what they do - I've seen them live a few times, and I enjoy listening to especially their earlier albums like "The God Thing", "Christ O" and "Colour Temple" (also the "Accult" EP was cool), but most of their albums run together for me, and I quickly loose interest in listening to them. This one is no different; it's extremely well done composition wise, the production sounds nice to my ears, great performances from everyone, but it's just "boring" to my ears. There's no danger to it, there are no taking-chances, there's nothing boundary-pushing ... it's all just "there" and "fine". Andy is a good singer, but also a bit tough to listen to in that high register, which obviously goes with the territory. All German prog metal bands from that era tends to sound this way singer-wise (Dreamscape, Ivanhoe, Lanfear....). Again, I don't have anything really negative to say about it, it's just one of those albums that's really well composed, well performed, yet doesn't manage to connect with me on an emotional level. I'll give it another spin later, but I don't expect it to change too much. I'm happy though that y'all love it so much - the old school prog metal scene has been quite uneventful for a while, so it's good we all get an album like this

****I forgot to tell you that you were banned from posting anything Vanden Plas related ......... shoo. Go away ........

HAH!!!

In all honesty, it's a good/solid album. Nice melodies, great performances ... but it comes back to the discussion about "prog metal vs progressive metal".

This is PROG metal. It's a genre.
This isn't PROGRESSIVE metal. It's not testing the boundaries of anything ...