Neverland : Reversing Time

Bringing together Turkish band 'Dreamtone' and Greek classical singer Iris Mavraki, 'Neverland' is a grand ensemble project somewhat in the style of Tobias Sammet's 'Avantasia' . Add an excellently arranged and conducted Istanbul Philarmonia Orchestra and we have very symphonic sounding progressive / power metal. Opener 'Shooting Star' is a mid paced rocker that sets the general flavour of what is to come. The next song 'To Lose The Sun' is an achingly delivered lament that shows off guest vocalist Hansi Kursch's ability to pull at the heart strings. "I cannot lose you now my dear...no more dead angels do I want to see". 'Mankind Is A Lie' is a multi layered operatic rocker and these three tracks really show what this band are all about. So far so very, very good....

'Everlasting Tranquility' slows the pace right down to piano/vocal balladry. English is probably not Iris Mavraki's first language as her pronunciation is too 'correct' and while unquestionably very well performed and arranged, it is by far the weakest track lyrically and vocally for me, which is a pity as her voice is very well suited to her other contributions on this album. The pace picks back up again with the excellent Mike Baker voiced title track 'Reversing Time'. One of the most noticeable aspects of this album is that the guitars usually flow with the overall orchestral arrangement style rather than moving off into a more defined solo. The bridge in the middle of this is one place they definitely should have explored more and reminded me alot of the glorious guitar work on Queensryche's 'Empire'.

With a voiceover which changes the pace midway, nicely worked operatic parts and some lovely melodic guitar work 'Black Water' is perhaps the heaviest track on the album and gives drummer Emerecan Sevdin an energetic workout - but the absolutely insane little piano ditty at 3mins 24secs completely spoiled the flow and if I could would edit it out. Overall though this is still a gem of a track which sees the component parts of this group blended to outstanding effect. 'Mountain of Judgement' again slows things down to piano/vocal balladry, but is so much better than 'Everlasting Tranquility' and provides a nice intro to next track 'Mountain of Joy' - an anthemic mid paced rocker containing a Thin Lizzy sounding guitar riff and the most noticeable solo, which is one of the best ones I have heard on a melodic album.

'World Beyond These Walls' sees guest vocalist Tom Englund expertly round off this conceptual tale of regret and sorrow before 'Transcending Miracle' provides a instrumental closing that is both anthemic and symphonic and includes an excellent Pink Floyd style use of saxophone.

While some of the changes may at first appear a little difficult, on second listen they begin to flow and by the third listen 'Reversing Time' opens up to glorious effect. With a cover that looks like it should be on an epic fantasy novel, this is an excellent album that should appeal to all fans of symphonic and progressive metal and would make a nice companion to Avantasia's 'The Scarecrow'.

Very highly recommended.

MOO! pmsbull

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