Another top notch prog-metal band to watch...
D. Tonya | Barber-tucky, Ohio | 05/14/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I love symphonic prog and art rock which represent the majority of my prog collection. However, I do have an affinity for prog metal having grown up on American thrash metal in my youth. The great thing about the internet is that you can hear bands you might otherwise never know about. Tomorrow's Eve is one of those bands. You can definitely hear the Germanic roots with the music borrowing a lot from German interpretation of power metal. Since there is always the obligatory comparison in prog metal music to Dream Theater, I should start off saying that Tomorrow's Eve definitely heavier than most anything on Train of Thought. So if you didn't like that DT album, you needn't read any further here.
The musician ship is definitely high caliber, something of a requirement for quality prog metal. The guitar is thick and sludgy with ample use of palm muting. The good thing is that it is mixed in a way that it doesn't detract from the rest of the instrumentation while still being upfront in the mix. The vocals are middle of the road, not so much in capability but as in musical range. He can extend deep into the bass range and the mid-range but doesn't have the soring highs (like a Joey Belladonna). In that sense he can sing in a few different styles with Amnesia being a more typical singing range and Pain being more agressive, intense and evil in tone. Thankfully he knows his range and doesn't try to exceed it. All too often I hear prog metal singers try to go beyond their capabilities with cringe inducing results!
The songs themselves run the gamut of typical prog metal progressions (Amnesia), thrashy power metal (Pain, Irreversible), German power metal (Human Device), power ballad (Eve Suite), Middle Eastern motifs (Market of Umbra), and an excellent female vocal duet (Not from This World). The middle section of Eve Suite has a wonderful guitar and keyboard interlude (4:20) that is often typical of Dream Theater extended compositions. Not of This World has a wonderfully atypical keyboard sequence (2:23) which then leads into guitar solo played by the synthesizer instead. Actually it is the interestingly diverse way the keyboards are used that really helps set Tomorrow's Eve from the remaining glut of prog metal bands coming out.
All in all, Tomorrow's Eve have achieved an excellent outing with The Mirror of Creation: Vol. 2. While it is on the heavier side of prog metal, there is enough diversity on this album to warrant repeated playbacks. Again, if you didn't like Dream Theater's Train of Thought, this album might be too heavy for you. However, Tomorrow's Eve eschew most of the technical wankery that can turn people off from Dream Theater making this album a more compositionally appealing recording. Rating: 3.8 out of 5."
Technical, Dark, Beautiful
Chris Lehne | Minnesota, USA | 08/27/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"D. Tonya is right on about just about every point. I guess all I can really add is that you will absolutely love this album if you are a fan of Evergrey. The vocalist has vocal qualities similar to Evergrey, but I like Tomorrow's Eve more than Evergrey personally. The music is just more melodic in my opinion. I say give the album about 3 listen through's before you form an opinion. Here's the breakdown of each song:
Man Without A Name [4/5]: A pretty good opener to the album... nothing really spectacular musically but it sets the mood.
Amnesia [5/5]: Love this song, it opens with some very epic keyboarding. Overall the song just has ENERGY, but as far as speed goes it's rather mid-paced.
Pain [4/5]: Very thrashy and sounds pretty 'evil'. Around half-way through the rather short song, there's a very catchy part where things lighten up a bit and it sounds less 'evil'.
The Eve Suite [5/5]: Wow, a knock-out epic by Tomorrow's Eve. This song is absolutely perfect in nearly everyway. I could go into details here, but you simply have to hear it to appreciate it. One thing is great about the song - the lyrics are very easy to hear and understand making it all the more powerful.
The Market of Umbra [2/5]: I'm a little disappointed that such a great song has to be immediately followed up by what seems like a rather mediocre effort. The song has a very middle-eastern tinge to it, but the song itself doesn't do much for me.
Not From This World [5/5]: Man, this song is another one that just blows you away (or it blows me anyway). The female vocals may have to grow on you; you might be turned off by them at first. Stick with the song though, it's genius.
Eye For An Eye [1/5]: Sounds very Evergrey, but a song this short (1 minute) is hard to really enjoy.
Irreversible [3/5]: Kicks things off very heavy, but slowly progresses to be a less than impressive song in my opinion.
Distant Murmurs [5/5]: Yes! Another fantastic song. I wasn't sure at first, but it quickly grew on me. This is one of the "less progy" songs on the album in my opinion. It's incredibly catchy and very heavy. 2 words: play loud.
Rebirth [4/5]: Pretty good song. Some very good progression throughout the song. Some parts will make you go 'wtf', but most of the song is truly awesome.
Human Device [3/5]: Very heavy, but not a whole lot going on musically until towards the end. Idk, there are probably plenty of people who would disagree with my rating, but I just don't like it a whole lot.
The Trials Of Man [5/5]: A rather long song, but it's very good. It will take many listens to full appreciate it, so stick with it. There's a surprise in store at the end that's something typical of Sonata Arctica.
So as you can see there are quite a few great songs. This is towards the top as far as my favorite progressive metal albums go. A must to any prog fan's collection."
Ditto on the other reviews!
Robert M. Lisanti | Peekskill, New York USA | 09/14/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Dark, Heavy, Melodic and complex. Take Nevermore, RUSH, Dream Theater, and Fates Warning and you have Tomorrows Eve. Every song on this album is great no fillers here. I listened to it at least 6 times in a week. One of the best Progressive metal albums in the last 5 yrs!."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1