Cenotaph:

Seventh Wonder is a band that doesn’t call for a special introduction on the Treehouseofdeath pages, for there have been many discussion about these “new” wonders since the time of their brilliant sophomore release 2006’s Waiting In The Wings (WITW, hereafter). To say that I liked what the guys offered with their instantly catchy yet very intricate blend of Progressive and Melodic Metal on that album would be a bit of understatement, as I absolutely fell in love with it, making it a regular part of my Metal menu over the last two years. The album was such a leap forward from all angles, in contrast to their good yet rather average debut Become, that it almost instantly rocketed Seventh Wonder to the highest echelons of the genre.

2008 came upon us, and once the rumors of an impending release became borne out, turned into a year of great anticipation for all their fans. But, WITW had set such high standards at both the instrumental and vocal fronts that it was difficult to believe that its magical confluence of alluring melodies and thought-provoking lyrics colored with irreproachable and inventive arrangements could possibly be surpassed or even matched with Mercy Falls. However, I take pride in calling the new material another imposing chapter in the band’s history, since it utterly confirms that there is nothing impossible at the Seventh Wonder camp. They have once again exceeded themselves, creating a masterpiece that, while being rife with many thoroughly familiar components, can also boast of some nearly intangible new touches.

The first thing I noticed was how the dark blue colors of the cover art perfectly match the overall atmosphere of Mercy Falls. As you probably know, blue is the color of tranquility, harmony and depression, all of which are abundantly reflected in the new material showing us a band that now incorporates a larger variety of slower tempos as compared to on WITW, which was in contrast a showpiece of energy, warmth and enthusiasm, as the fiery colors of its cover suggested. Thus, while “Pieces”, as a ballad, felt rather lonely on the previous release, such new songs as “Tears For A Father”, “Tears For A Son” and “One Last Goodbye” form a solid unity, each equipped with tuneful refrains and great half-acoustic string arrangements. Moreover, you will also encounter more calm and somewhat depressive sections thrown in among the more energetic and faster parts. Take, for example, the dreamy Floyd-ish guitars and keys opening the beautiful mesmerizing number “Fall In Line” with its brusque rhythm and challenging vocal lines, or the highly emotive guitar/vocal prelude to the splendid nine and a half minute epic “Break The Silence” bewitching with its multifold of dynamics.

However, the well-established sound of their previous release hasn’t undergone any drastic changes and the band doesn’t wander to far off the beaten track relying as before on the incredible interplay between the guitars and the keys, effective machine-gun drum work and extremely hooky vocal parts rather than flirting with any gimmicky novelties. Hence, don’t expect to hear a Seventh Wonder bereaved of the utterly spectacular bass improvisations by Andreas Blomqvist, guitar gymnastics and neo-classicisms by Johan Liefvendahl, or the colossal keyboard and piano roulades by Andreas Söderin. On the other hand, there is still one big plus shown in the new songs: they don’t sound like a re-hash of their earlier material, which is well confirmed by the great songwriting displayed on the album. You can easily pick out any track and get immediately carried away by its charming melodies never thinking of their previous works. Thus, listening to the amazing instrumental “There And Back” along with the following title track of the album, I would recall the wonderful entrancing synths done by Jordan Rudess for Dream Theater on Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence rather than anything heard on WITW. Yet, that parallel would feel rather subtle since Seventh Wonder, unlike the mentioned Prog titans, are much more focused on the melodic wizardry than on the overdone instrumental wankery. Being known as a die-hard fan of the band, I could endlessly sing out my praises of the Mercy Falls values, but let me call on the next reviewer’s opinion.

Distortionplus:

Well, this is definitely a big step for a band that as good as they were on WITW, really needed to do something just as spectacular for the follow up. Other groups like Circus Maximus are already championing the cause of catchy AOR style Prog Metal, while Pagan’s Mind are digging into spacey science fiction topics, so where else could SW go? The answer is in an elaborate concept album based on a story that isn’t so far fetched as to involve aliens or other such exotic themes, but rather something that could potentially happen to anyone. I guess the story may have been the springboard for the music, but in all honesty, it’s their compositions and overall musicianship that interest me as much if, not more so than any underlying narrative, so I’ll mainly focus on that.

In comparison to WITW, Mercy Falls has a little less of the instrumental showmanship, and is instead a great example of a band that has matured to play more cohesively and with a degree of restraint – when needed. They still allow each other to get a little bit of time in the spotlight, but overall they are playing tighter as an ensemble and more for the songs this time. The real standout here is vocalist Tommy Karevic who as usual, does not disappoint in any way. A concept album like Mercy Falls typically requires a great vocal performance and Tommy once again rises to the occasion, his smooth delivery still having an edge when appropriate, but without resorting to any clichéd Metal affectations in order to get his lines across. A few of my favorite performances of his include the title track where he sings with a little bit of an angrier tone-which I’ve always really liked in him, and as a contrast, the acoustic ballad “Tears For A Father” with its very soulful vocals. If you’ve already heard his stunning work on the ballad “Pieces” from WITW, you know what an extremely emotive singer he is. He’s easily my favorite vocalist in the Prog Metal genre.

Speaking of vocals, a few songs like the title track still employ fantastic layered backing choruses, but they don’t seem as frequent or as up front here as on WITW. This is my only tiny complaint as I thought it was a terrific signature part of their sound, and something I would have liked to hear more of. However, it probably imparts a lot of challenges to being recreated in a live performance so no doubt that may have been one consideration.

Although there may be less of the drawn out soloing on this one, and apart from the opening instrumental “There And Back”, there are still a few standout moments like the longer jam on “Unbreakable”, the screaming guitar solo of Johan Liefvendahl on “Paradise”, or the neoclassical leads of “Break The Silence” which are nicely countered with an improvised sounding bass line from Andreas Blomqvist. Keyboardist Andreas ‘Kyrt’ Söderin takes his turn on this number as well, playing magnificently, but not drowning the song or the rest of the album in keys, either. And I sure can’t forget to mention drummer Johnny Sandin who lays down excellent hyper-kinetic beats and barrages of fills throughout the album. He along with bassist Andreas have to be one of the best rhythm sections out there today, always mixing things up, pushing the musical envelope, and being as key to the bands sound as any guitarist or lead singer could ever be.

Thankfully, the much discussed story line narrations used on the album are few and far between, and only in the case of “One Last Goodbye” do they intrude on the music, more typically being heard between the songs. Even though I’m not a big fan of using voice-overs on a song, I can live with it in this case, as the song is fairly low key to begin with and therefore doesn’t get too overshadowed. I should mention that this album was produced by Andreas Blomqvist and once again mixed/mastered by Tommy Hansen, the result being another extremely good sounding recording from the group.

Overall, Mercy Falls is a big step ahead for the band and I think they have more than succeeded in reaching the next level of artistry beyond their first two albums. It may not be as immediately accessible as WITW due to the greater complexity of the songs, and granted, there may be some fans slightly disappointed by the lesser amounts of explosive energy on this new one, but it’s a necessary evolution and a small risk that had to be taken by the band as they continue to grow. There is definitely more to look forward to from Seventh Wonder.

THOD’S other Seventh Wonder reviews:

http://www.treehouseofdeath.com/?p=546

http://www.treehouseofdeath.com/?p=581

Seventh Wonder Myspace Page:

http://www.myspace.com/officialSW

This entry was posted by Distortionplus on Saturday, 13th September, 2008 at 11:11 and is filed under Reviews, Seventh Wonder. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response below. You may view a   printable version of this page. You may download this page in   PDF format.