Ambitious concept album by super prog group
Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 09/22/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"ProgRock Records' new super group Amaran's Plight consists of some of progressive music's most noteworthy faces: Gary Wehrkamp of Shadow Gallery and DC Cooper of Royal Hunt and Silent Force. Ever since Shadow Gallery fans heard DC Cooper's guest performance on their masterpiece Tyranny, they have been expecting the duo to collaborate in one form or another again -- and Voice in the Light finally brings them together after nearly a decade.
They are joined by a solid rhythm section, Spock's Beard drummer Nick D'Virgillio and US prog rockers Under The Sun's bassist Kurt Barabas. Both of them do a fine job on the CD, but since most songs were written by Gary Wehrkamp with some vocal melody and lyric contributions by DC Cooper, the album predominantly recalls Shadow Gallery with DC's more progressive style of singing. The rhythm parts do chime in on some songs though, such as the beautifully arranged "Incident at Haldeman's Lake", an ambitious three-part suite that begins with a slightly folky synth patch and wonderful acoustic guitar playing by Jim Roberti, one of the many guests on the CD. From cascading guitar voicings to multiple vocal harmonies and a pronounced bass part together with powerful drumming, this mammoth piece is among the album's best songs. DC Cooper's vocals are emotive and the synth-laden passages lend themselves to quite an atmospheric composition.
At almost 80 minutes, it could be argued that the album never really gains much pace, remaining in a comfortable ballad-and-mid-tempo song range, given the over-abundance of the slow acoustic and piano numbers. Actually "Reflections Pt.1" is a great ballad, mostly because it evokes DC Cooper during his Paradox-era Royal Hunt days, while "I Promise You" sees him swapping lead vocals with female vocalist Trishia O'Keefe whose angelic voice brings in extra dimension to the song. There do exist some heavier passages on the CD, but they are always outnumbered by the more melodic vocals and hard rock-based instrumental parts. "Coming of Age", for instance, stands out for its heavy drum attacks and DC's theatrical vocals, but they are balanced out with Gary Wehrkamp's sweet-toned melodic warmth in the guitar and synth arrangements.
On the heavier front, the band make an interesting statement in the form of "Viper", a song which also features a synth solo by label owner Shawn Gordon. The drumming on this song is solid, but not really something we'd expect of Nick D'Virgillio. However, the singing and consonant guitar and bass back-up somewhat render it out-of-place on the album -- it sounds too happy and straightforward compared to the rest of the disc. "Turning Point" is in a similar mould, with heavier guitar runs and big, happy hard rock choruses.
In the album's centre lies the amazing instrumental "Consummation Opus", a very moody and intense cut laden with excellent bass playing and dense synth colouring. The song has a very epic vibe to it, and could be Amaran's Plight's finest work from a songwriting point. Saga's Michael Sadler makes a guest appearance on the final song "Revelation", one of the three ten-plus-minute monsters. There are different kind of vocals on the album with majestic piano sections and heavier soloing. If you expect lots of flashy guitar playing on the CD, then "Shattered Dreams" deserves a listen, particularly for its very fusiony instrumental break that makes up more than half of its thirteen minutes. There are plenty of guitar and synth trade-offs happening here.
This is a concept album based on the novel by John W. Crawford, and thus contains some dialogues, spoken parts, and other background noises, but thankfully they are either in the intros or the outros of the songs and do not break the flow of the compositions.
Unfortunately the packaging is quite misleading. Apart from various spelling mistakes, the booklet lists an unexisting song titled "Reflections Pt.2" which apparently only exists on the Japanese import. Also the track titles on the back of the CD and booklet vary (I own an initial pressing; I heard they've corrected these mistakes on the new ones). I assume the song is actually called "Truth in Tragedy", but it's listed as "Truth and Tragedy" on the back.
There is absolutely nothing new on this album, but it still manages to reach Shadow Gallery's last album Room V at times, a similarity I feel like pointing out due to the resemblance in production. Also, it is certainly great to see DC Cooper moving away from his straightforward band Silent Force to a more Royal Hunt-like style, which works perfectly on this album."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1