"Into the Electric Castle"

CD 1:47.27---CD 2: 57.14/Transmission Records/1998

The road begins with "Isis & Osiris", where Fish, besides writing the letters, sings I eat at some time had made it; talks with him, the gentleman and the Roman. Exultant Sharon's choirs and Anneke, two majestic voices. Are they the first ones in being not in the new dimension in a way very cheerful (not even the light of the sun ...no ...no heats ... as it heats we will find our road? If we cannot recognize the stars, if we cannot recognize the constellations, where will we go"?). Caught in the darkness for the Roman. The time and the place to expiate their sins for the mountaineer. The doors of Avalon for the gentleman. "Isis and Osiris" for the Egyptian. Without illusion, to discover the life after the death. Acoustic guitars and a later progressive development with included zithers. "Amazing Flight" continues. Almost a soul rhythm; the barbarian makes his appearance, manifesting his fight past, accompanied by the hippie that will try to calm it. Toward the end the Indian gives us her hypnotic song that will end in a counterpoint between the flute of Thijs and the synthesizers of Nolan. The epilogue worthy of Jethro Tull. Then, the fourth theme, "Time Beyond Time" where the man of the future is presented as a sophisticated man that has traveled from the stations of the Moon to Neptune. Impossible that understand each other with the Roman or the gentleman. What one stops is the cybernetic world, for the other one it is the underground world. They speak different languages, different eras lived ... an fears rested with a beautiful classic intermission. We arrive to "The Decisión Tree", where the voice announces, among irony and laughs that should follow seven, but that the decision belongs to the travelers. Here the barbarian exposes his desires to die fighting and the mountaineer remembers his old sins (I pursued princesses, I killed to the other side of the correct thing, I buried children..."). A strong theme, with progressive development. Interesting the alone of synthesizer of Rene Markelbach. We arrive now to "Tunnel of Light". The mountaineer makes his decision. He will be the one that doesn't continue (they don't offer me the light, when the only thing that I know is the darkness, and there it is where I want to hide"). The theme is a jewel, a hymn dominated by the fantastic voice of Anneke, and with a base of acoustic guitar and percussion with a moog here and there. The end of the first CD marks it "Across the Rainbow Bridge", where the gentleman and the Roman urge to pass to the other side of the bridge. The most metallic theme in this first CD.

The second CD opens up with "The Garden of Emotions". The Egyptian believes that Asum Ra has arrived to seal its destination. While the Roman and the barbarian dispute to be able to and it forces, capacity to drive and of driving them at the end of the trip in freedom. The native advances the enemies of the sky (and the voices in the sky, will make that the soul dies"). While the man of the future speaks like through a computer that dominates him, intending to continue together as a team. A strong topic and a compact band. Follows "The Valley of the Queens"; acoustic guitar, flute, harpsichord and the tragic voice of Anneke. Alone (alone?) this to thresh this small beauty of less than three minutes. The Egyptian loses the faith and she feels that they have stolen him the dreams. And in spite of being near the Castle, chooses to stay in the valley of the queens and not to return. It continues with "The Castle Hall'. The six remaining they are in the castle (the shades of the deads move on the wall, demons' dance in the hall of the castle") and plays the barbarian and the gentleman to face those deads that are those that themselves murdered. A topic with the whole power, alone softened by the flute of Thijs, creating a similar climate to Focus. We advance now to "Tower of Hope", a progressive marvel with a small passage jazzy. Here the man of the future and the hippie look at themselves to themselves and they observe their errors (I felt what I wanted to feel and I saw alone what I wanted to see"). they Continue with "Cosmic Fusion", another of the high points of this work. Although the man of the future and the Roman try to persuade it, the native is attracted by him sun (I will go toward the sun, and then we will be one"); there she meets with death, the guardian of the hall door who says to be the breeze, the wind, the storm, the fire and the sun (I am death and I request your last encouragement"). The native dies with a scream. A metal passage well doom (rotten voices of Robert Westerholt and George Ooesterheld, but with a lacking epic poetry in that gender). Like said at the beginning, the image of the death makes it to us I eat better we want. The voices are probably those. Alone they are five that pass "The Mirror Maze". it Arrived the hour that the hippie and the man of the future face their past in front of the mirror. Treated voices, piano, guitar and violin. Then the Roman and the gentleman make the same thing, with a powerful base. The man of the future opens the door and the other ones pass through the mirror... "Evil Devolution" arrives where the man of the future thinks about the possibility that the science has overcome us (we become the victims of our science"). Some superb arrangements of strings for the first part and a persistent base, with alone of guitar, for the end. The voice advanced that one of them already lived a lot. With "The Two Gates" the election is forced of one of the two portals. The barbarian chooses the one fringed in gold, believing that it is Valhalla, Oblivion and he dies. This, to my way of seeing is the slack theme. For the other door closed the circle but the gentleman asks: "who you, magicians or gods are? which their plan was, don't we understand it, did we stop or do we fall"?. In Forever of the Stars", the voice, does Forever, already explain to it, with a computed voice. "Another Time, Another Space" puts the final point to this wonderful trip. The four remaining characters, with a simple melody that becomes more complex at the end of the theme, wonder and they try to understand that it happened. The end with vocal memories of the deads and of the alive ones. And the voice: "do remember for ever "or" they remember to Forever, that is to say the same voice?.

To summarize, this work of Lucassen is sublime. Impossible to separate the musical of the text that guides him and explains. Beyond some blinks to well-known bands, I believe that this CD is unbeatable.

It is also presented as the gods. An impressive artwork, the letters (they lack some parts in some passages), drawings, images and the complete information of the participants. He made a lot that didn't listen 110 minutes of oneself band without gorging!!!!!

Edgardo Escribano