The Immunity Zone

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New Vocals, New Band
I have been following Andromeda loosely since their first release, Extension of the Wish. And frankly, I have always considered them to be on the lower-tier of professional prog metal (along with bands like Vanden Plas, Spiral Architect, Redemption, Serenity, etc...). The common problem with all of these European "progressive metal" bands is not the musicianship, but the vocals the songwriting. So I have always considered myself a semi-Andromeda fan for this reason: decent instrumentals, horrible vocals. I feel this way about each of their first three albums. But with their latest release, "The Immunity Zone," it seems as if Andromeda has finally decided to pick up the slack and prove themselves as the capable band that they truly are. The first good move on their part was ridding themselves of their old singer, and recruiting David Fremberg. His vocal work is more than adequate on this album, and on more than one occasion, he gives the band a unique new texture that I have never heard before. With this album, it seems like the band is on their way up, quite possibly to join the ranks of Dream Theater, Symphony X, and Opeth. But it doesn't end there. Sporting a new vocalist and front man, Andromeda really decided to kick the musicianship up a notch as well. The intricacies of the songwriting on this album are some of the most original and technical that I have ever heard. And I like that they decided to lean more heavily toward "prog metal" and less toward "power metal." I have seen several corny power metal bands falsely label themselves as "progressive acts" (Eden's Curse, Communic, old Andromeda). Now that is not to say that the campy lyrics and cheesy synth patches are completely gone; Andromeda has not completely shed their old identity. But they have definitely put some thought into the compositions, and it all works very nicely. "Veil of Illumination" is a real masterpiece, and perhaps their first true masterpiece for this very reason. It blends their old, catchy sound with dark and complicated atmospheres. And it does it WELL. I would definitely recommend this album to existing fans, as well as lost fans who sort of gave up by their second and third album (which includes me). I'd especially recommend this to all the pioneers of progressive music out there. This is quite an interesting listen. Yet while "The Immunity Zone" is not quite perfection, it is a humongous step in the right direction. Andromeda has gained back my respect completely, and I am curious to see what they do next.

great progressive metal album
so the new andromeda album is here. andromeda continue the sound they have built for themselves over the years with a few changes. first off "the immunity zone" is much for riff driven than all their previous albums, but that is not actually a bad thing. The riffs are stronger than ever on this album, and there are very progressive parts in all the songs even if all of them are not flooding with solos. This album has allot of great keyboard parts in it, and some of the best drumming you can find in a band. I am a drummer myself and i was utterly blown away by the drum playing. My only real complaint is there are not as many solos in this album as usual. Almost the entire first half of the album has no solos. Official solos do not kick in till track 5 "Worst enemy" but at the same time the first half of the album is still very progressive, and it is great! Plus from that point on you get enough solos to make anyone happy. The last song "Veil of illumination" is a prog masterpiece. Clocking in on over 17 mins long it wont disappoint. It is by far one of the craziest most progressive songs i ever heard, and the guitar and keyboard playing on it is amazing! amazing progressive metal for fans of dream theater, evergrey, and pagans mind

Good songs but less guitar-oriented than before
This is a very good album from a great prog-metal band. The first time I listened to this CD I was a little unsure whether I liked it or not. I was hoping for something more along the lines of Extension of the Wish in terms of the guitar playing. Instead, this one focuses more on songs, and you'll have to wait until song 6 to hear the very first guitar solo (from that point on the songs all have a guitar solo). The more I listen to this one, the more I like it. In fact, I'm starting to love this record. I've got the songs on my iPod and have listened to it everyday since it came out. Johan Reinholdz is an amazing player, but he's obviously matured to the point where he doesn't feel a need to impress all the guitar fans out there anymore. Oh well, I guess less can be more sometimes. His playing here is still very good and he creates some amazing moods with his odd choice of chords and rhythm. There's a good mix of very heavy and very mellow. Some of the softer stuff reminds me of Andy Summers' playing on Outlandos D'Amour (some of you might think that's a strange reference, but that's what it reminds me of), very cool and very tasteful. He's got a way better singer to work with this time around compared to the singer on the first one and he seems to see this as a chance to create better songs with less complex solo guitar work. However, this is still a prog metal album and I don't expect to see it on the Top 40 charts anytime soon. Fans of the Extension album will probably take some time to get used to this one, but it's worth the effort. This remains one of the best and most original prog bands on the scene. I'm a guitar player myself and I must say that this is a model of how prog songs ought to be arranged, and it's a study in 7-string rhythm guitar playing. Reinholdz's guitar tone is one of the best I've heard (if anyone knows his setup, let me know). The production is first-rate, and the singing is much improved. All in all, if you're a fan of this band, you'll like this album better than the last one, but maybe a little less than the first. Me, I still prefer the first one, but this one is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

It's aight...
Ok, here goes. I'm a huge Andromeda fan, and rank them right up there with the kings of progressive metal. Unfortunately, this album does not match up with their previous works. Don't get me wrong, this album is still loaded with technical mastery from every musician, and features some great vocals from Fremberg (who I think has the most original sound of any prog metal vocalist) but there are several gripes I have about it. To start, the first half of it is just empty. It feels uninspired. There are hardly any keyboard or guitar solos to be heard for the whole first half of the album. There are plenty of good riffs, great drumming, and great keys, but they never really get flashy. It's all just riffing. It never goes anywhere, it doesn't take you to another world. These songs feel like cookie cutter tracks that were just there to take up some time. It feels rushed. It doesn't match the intensity of Chimera, the emotion of II=I, or the wizardry of Extension. It feels incomplete, like they didn't have enough material ready when the label informed them that they had to start recording. "Slaves of the Plethora Season" is definitely my least favorite track on the album, although it has quite a catchy chorus. The lyrics are just wanking on about the socio-political state of the world that we live in, in the cheesiest fashion possible. This is by far the cheesiest Andromeda song I have ever heard. There are also some annoying techno-esque passages in the early going, seeing the keys experiment with synths that haven't been used in 20 years, and also a really weak and unoriginal technoy beat on the first track. There are no beautiful piano passages like those found on previous Andromeda albums. There is some catchy stuff on here, some tunes that really could've been awesome had they gone all the way with them. I just can't understand why they chose to abandon soloing for almost the entire album. The album doesn't really pick up until halfway through. The last few songs are sweet, especially the 17 minute 52 second epic "Veil of Illumination". It seems as though they saved all the instrumental insanity for the last few songs, and this one is no let-down. It's just sad that the rest of the album couldn't be that good. The best tracks on here IMO are the last 4 or 5. Sadly, this album is pretty much just straight forward melodic metal, nothing incredibly special about it. The only thing that saves it is the fact that the musicians are really really good and some of the songs are decent. As far as how it matches up to previous Andromeda works... it just isn't that good. It's not on par for what these guys are capable of, and I was expecting alot more. Don't buy this expecting it to be anything like previous Andromeda releases, this is a very watered-down Andromeda release. I hope they redeem themselves at some point in the future, because if they continue in this direction, the prog-metal scene will lose one of it's most promising line-ups.

Greatest prog album of all time
Andromeda return in true form to deliver their greatest effort yet. With a level of musicianship that easily matches the technicality of Dream Theater, Andromeda bring to this album a level of passion that pushes the songwriting to the next level. If you liked any of Andromeda's previous works, or you like progressive metal/rock at all, this is the album to have. Even if you don't get into Progressive Rock, I would still suggest this album, only I would stipulate that you listen to it through at least 5 times before even beginning to try to pass judgment. The Immunity Zone's complexity combined with it's humanity amounts to one hell of an experience. There is no doubt Andromeda have worked very hard on this release and they deserve all of the recognition they have coming to them with this gem. My only complaint is that it makes other works unsatisfying in comparison!