Exactly what is good music? You might have asked yourself this question on occasion, you may have not; I certainly did the latter more often than not, and while I can not comment on just how well and skillfully runs, fills, chops, hooks, etc. are implemented into music (I know nothing about these formalities and wordy details), I can certainly comment on what sounds good, flawed in any way or not. And this sounds good...and on top of that is flawed somewhat.

KenZiner is one of many MANY new bands appearing from their central 'breeding point', if you will, - as vague as it is - Europe. In this case we have a 24 year old mastermind, Jarno Keskinen, playing most of the instruments, writing all the music, etc. - can't say that he doesn't contribute enough, since that's about all he does. Perhaps lack of extra hands and a good voice ensued in there actually being two other members here, but I'd be lying if I said they didn't fulfill their duties wonderfully; the vocals are in the extreme (said - exact) Graham Bonnett vein, with the power and the raspiness one would expect from no one else. And the drums? They're good in that they're heavy, pounding, and tight - at least that's how I can describe their sound...double bass or not - I'll leave that up to the experts.

But to get over to the songs - therein lies the beauty and the moderate problem of the disc - it would be senseless to attempt a differentiation of good and bad, since the former pretty much yields the latter. Not clear enough? Every song is full of terrific, mostly neoclassical keyboard work, but the same keyboard lines appear in pretty much all the songs, and while this certainly helps out in a sense of connection, particularly given the lyrical concept, it can also prove repetitive to a good number of listeners, myself being one - though certainly more forgiving than others. The choruses are fine, but they're repeated ad nauseam on a good bit of tracks, which again does not help in adding to the variety level of the album. These, however, are the only problems of the album...

Still, there's more to the review than a restrained bitching session - I really should point out what this album does have going for it - despite the repetition, the songs do stand out quite a bit, with the (almost) eight minute title track and "Images of the Past" being two particular standouts. The latter is a heavy and flowing ride with some particularly enchanting keyboard runs and an ultra tight and melodic chorus, whereas the title track beckons to a slightly rawer style employed by none other than Symphony X - not in any way polished, but unabated in terms of sheer prowess and beauty, alternating between slow, fast, and mid-tempo quite effortlessly. "Through the End" while in itself made up of various bits of various songs on the disc, is still another splendid cut - dark, melodic, and again variating in structure and tempo. I have to give kudos to "Into the Light" - while not standing up extremely well to some of the other material, it actually differs from the other songs by being fast the whole way through (there's some impressive keyboard runs there as well), and there are plenty of solid moments with opener "Future Signs" (long, abstract solo), "Seasons" (great bridge), and the closing "Land of Shadows", which could have been a top track had it not been for the ridiculously repetitive and out-of-place chorus.

Nothing particularly weak here otherwise, as several unmentioned tracks provide decent listening fare, and this being a Japanese release, there's a bonus track called "Inspiration at the Moment", which is just a little under 3 minutes of Jarno playing the piano; nice...

Overall I'm gonna have to pass a positive verdict, as it's a very promising debut incorporating very talented musicians, and a style that if mended to a certain degree could be one of the best things in the power/progressive genre. Certainly a band to look out for, especially with a new cd (so far titled 'Prophecies') due out later this year...

My rating 8.3
Ilya Ulberg

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