Ayreon

Universal Migrator [Parts 1 & 2]

Inside Out Music America

Lucassen is the primary composer/arranger/producer and he also plays electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, synthesizers, keyboards, and more. Aryeon is joined by a host of lead vocalists from around the world, including Bruce Dickinson, Andi Deris, Floor Jansen, Neal Morse, Lana Lane, and many others, from bands such as Iron Maiden, Helloween, Symphony X, and Spock's Beard. Much like an opera, each character in the story is brought to life by a different voice.

Universal Migrator Part: 1, Dream Sequencer, has the lone colonist traveling way back in time. He visits places in his own memory and in the history of man. From his childhood, where he learns that he will never see the Planet Earth, to the first lunar landing, to the creation of Stonehenge, to the dawn of man himself. This album is very Pink Floyd-ish in its melodic psychedelia. The music is extremely progressive, and like Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, you want to listen to it from beginning to end because every note holds your interest.

Universal Migrator Part: 2, Flight of the Navigator, is more of a progressive metal mix in that it's much heavier than Part 1. Here our colonist travels through space and time past quasars and into black holes on the ultimate search for meaning.

Both pieces combine to tell an epic story and each song is like a chapter in a book. The dream sequencer tank theory reminds one of the premise behind the 1980 movie Altered States. Was that intentional? This is a man with a lot on his mind, both musically and intellectually. We'll have to wait and see where the mastermind takes us next.

Links:
Ayreon.com
Inside Out Music America