All Seeing Eyes – Reinventing Time
Self-Released
Release Date: 16/08/2021
Running Time: 52:02
Review by Beth Jones
6/10
All seeing eye are a Progressive/Power Metal duo from Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire right here in good old Blighty. We don’t get many Eurometal style bands coming out of our little island for some reason, I think possibly our failure to embrace the more flamboyant side of Metal in case we don’t look ‘cool’ enough. Well, personally, I’ve never been one for looking cool, so I love it when some homegrown metal like this lands in my review pile.
This is only the band’s second album, despite having existed for nearly a decade. A hiatus put things on hold, but, after their original keyboard player left, they decided to carry on as a duo.
So, to the album in hand. There’s a lot of influences in it, definitely – from Classic Heavy Metal, with Euro Power vocals, modern guitar crunch, and even some late 90’s Grunge. It’s certainly a unique plethora of sounds mixed together. It varies from track to track, too, keeping it interesting.
Musically, the songs are great, and there are some moments of brilliance, Ben Colton’s vocals and the guitar solos being prime examples. But I’m struggling with the overall mixing of the album. There are some issues here, that kind of spoil things for me. They’ve recorded it in their home studio, and mixed it themselves, which they deserve credit for…but then, due to the situation we have found ourselves in, so have a lot of bands over the last 20 months. I think the track, ‘Perspicacity’ is probably the most successful on the album because everything is at roughly the same level. It’s a decent song, too. Lots of different elements, from 70’s Progressive to Thrashier sections. However, in other tracks, it can sometimes be difficult to pick out the vocal line, the keyboards are too full on, or the snare sounds like a tin can. It’s a big shame.
The final track, ‘A Sequence Of History’, is pretty impressive at over 15 minutes in length, and doesn’t suffer from too many production issues. This starts quite Iron Maiden like, with pacey rhythms and guitars. It then alternates between this, and sweeping sections that feel more Euro Prog Power. It’s an epic song, and I can see it being spectacular live.
If you like Power or Prog there will definitely be something on “Reinventing Time” for you, but it hasn’t connected with me in the way I had hoped. I don’t like being negative because music is life. But, at the moment we are being spoilt with real quality, in terms of production, from so many bands, and that turns us into music snobs.
‘This Is Cypher World’ (Official Video)
TRACKLISTING:
01. Welcome To Cypher World
02. Proselytized
03. Love Is Illusion
04. The Gift Of Madness
05. Perspicacity
06. Ghosts Of Yesterday
07. Angel Fires
08. A Sequence Of History
LINE-UP:
Ben Colton – Vocals/Lead Guitar
Kenny Fraser – Lead Guitar/Bass
LINKS:
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