Shit man, just checked their new video for "Alley Cat" and if the album turns out like the song then its def. ending up on top of my 2010 list! Along with Suspyre theyre probably the best prog-power band currently by a LONG shot.

This album will be something awesome!

This is SW's best work. This album is perfect. Great music !!

Slighty worried about this one. Once I get a look at the lyrics and hopefully understand it better I may like it more.

Oh, didn't know it leaked

Pretty disappointed with the album. Alley Cat is about the best song and its not even that epic. They were way too ambitious on the title track, clocking in at 30mins! When you do a song like that you need to keep the listener captivated, but the song just meanders and bores you. Theres also too many songs which sound the same, too many songs starting off soft with pianos and end up being somewhat mid-tempo....and lastly the lyrics are severely terrible. One of the songs go something like this "I wanna be high, in the sky until I die" or something like that....Honestly - that makes Sonata Arctica's lyrics sound profound.

Overall really bummed as Ive been a huge fan of theirs since "Waiting in the Wings" which was an absolute monster. Every song on that album was a hit....this one just seems lazy. Very little sticks in your mind and its just too much of the same with the vocalist seemingly disjointed from the band as theres no coherence between him and anyone else.

It was a good first listen. They're all really talented...the singer has one hell of a voice.

But it wasn't very memorable.

Really enjoying it thus far. Third spin, still great.

The musicianship varies from simple Power passages, to great Prog verses, albeit slightly predictable at times.

The ever going conflict for supremacy between Johan (Guitar) and Andreas (Keyboards) is simply mind blowing. When these two battle it out comes the most impressive side of the album.

The vocals are also excellent, though I'm afraid Tommy is borrowing elements of his style from Jørn Lande. But you know what? That's not entirely a bad thing. His voice is different, has a much higher pitch than Jørn's and all in all - very enjoyable (Edit: according to a thread I found on their official forum, Jørn is indeed his main influence. See: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/seventh-wonder/650623-tommys-vocal-influences.html).

This is a relatively new band, and I can still hear them developing. The only thing missing as far as I'm concerned is Originality, and Tommy can't pull that off by himself.

Don't get me wrong, the music is great, although I do wish it would've introduced something new to the equation. But you can't have it all now, can you?

I really disagree the alley cat song isn't that good i think the best song in the album is long way home

Written by DrM on 15.12.2010 at 16:14

Really enjoying it thus far. Third spin, still great.

The musicianship varies from simple Power passages, to great Prog verses, albeit slightly predictable at times.

The ever going conflict for supremacy between Johan (Guitar) and Andreas (Keyboards) is simply mind blowing. When these two battle it out comes the most impressive side of the album.

The vocals are also excellent, though I'm afraid Tommy is borrowing elements of his style from Jørn Lande. But you know what? That's not entirely a bad thing. His voice is different, has a much higher pitch than Jørn's and all in all - very enjoyable.

This is a relatively new band, and I can still hear them developing. The only thing missing as far as I'm concerned is Originality, and Tommy can't pull that off by himself.

Don't get me wrong, the music is great, although I do wish it would've introduced something new to the equation. But you can't have it all now, can you?

Dont you find the album severely tedious though? I mean pace-wise... Just about every song is the same speed, it never picks up or becomes gripping. Most songs start off slow and never build up to anything, in fact many songs start off in almost identical fashion, thats what disappoint me the most. So little variation on the album, everything turns out to be a ballad.

Personally I was hoping for at least two or three songs to have some balls....thats where I think "Waiting in the Wings" and even "Mercy Falls" trumps this album by a long shot - those albums had a good balance between slower, more emotional songs and fasters punchier ones. Even though they weren't heavy, they at least kept me captivated by changing things up. You cant fault the band on their musicianship, its possibly better than ever - its just severely BORING this time around.

Written by Guest on 25.12.2010 at 19:44

Dont you find the album severely tedious though? I mean pace-wise... Just about every song is the same speed, it never picks up or becomes gripping. Most songs start off slow and never build up to anything, in fact many songs start off in almost identical fashion, thats what disappoint me the most. So little variation on the album, everything turns out to be a ballad.

Personally I was hoping for at least two or three songs to have some balls....thats where I think "Waiting in the Wings" and even "Mercy Falls" trumps this album by a long shot - those albums had a good balance between slower, more emotional songs and fasters punchier ones. Even though they weren't heavy, they at least kept me captivated by changing things up. You cant fault the band on their musicianship, its possibly better than ever - its just severely BORING this time around.

Tedious? That's not exactly the word I'd use. Might be more mundane - the music is great, never stated otherwise, but yes - it repeats itself occasionally, which does make the album sound a bit "ordinary" (quite the worst thing to say about a prog album).

Thing is though, I've sampled quite a large pile of bands that go for the cliche Prog Power combination without really standing out (which is why I haven't bothered even rating them), however something did catch me with these guys - can't really put my finger on it, but they must be doing something right.

Mercy Falls was a great album. The mission to improve that master could be impossible. Seventh Wonder made it! The Great Escape IS progressive metal.

Written by DrM on 26.12.2010 at 00:22

Written by Guest on 25.12.2010 at 19:44

Dont you find the album severely tedious though? I mean pace-wise... Just about every song is the same speed, it never picks up or becomes gripping. Most songs start off slow and never build up to anything, in fact many songs start off in almost identical fashion, thats what disappoint me the most. So little variation on the album, everything turns out to be a ballad.

Personally I was hoping for at least two or three songs to have some balls....thats where I think "Waiting in the Wings" and even "Mercy Falls" trumps this album by a long shot - those albums had a good balance between slower, more emotional songs and fasters punchier ones. Even though they weren't heavy, they at least kept me captivated by changing things up. You cant fault the band on their musicianship, its possibly better than ever - its just severely BORING this time around.

Tedious? That's not exactly the word I'd use. Might be more mundane - the music is great, never stated otherwise, but yes - it repeats itself occasionally, which does make the album sound a bit "ordinary" (quite the worst thing to say about a prog album).

Thing is though, I've sampled quite a large pile of bands that go for the cliche Prog Power combination without really standing out (which is why I haven't bothered even rating them), however something did catch me with these guys - can't really put my finger on it, but they must be doing something right.

Yeah I must agree with you on one thing: Seventh Wonder IS a very accomplished and impressive bands compared to MOST other progressive metal bands. The only other progressive metal bands who really compare with SW is Suspyre (my personal favourite band of the style) and Circus Maximus.

SW has the talent, their songwriting is fantastic and the musicianship is awesome..along with one of the best vocalists Ive heard in a long time. And due to this Ive become severely fond of them and only expect the best - which is a bit of a two-edged sword I guess. So yeah, compared to other bands "The Great Escape" is probably one of the best Progressive Metal albums of the year, but compared to their former albums the band is well short of their potential in my opinion - hence the poor rating from me.

Written by Guest on 29.12.2010 at 18:22

Yeah I must agree with you on one thing: Seventh Wonder IS a very accomplished and impressive bands compared to MOST other progressive metal bands. The only other progressive metal bands who really compare with SW is Suspyre (my personal favourite band of the style) and Circus Maximus.

SW has the talent, their songwriting is fantastic and the musicianship is awesome..along with one of the best vocalists Ive heard in a long time. And due to this Ive become severely fond of them and only expect the best - which is a bit of a two-edged sword I guess. So yeah, compared to other bands "The Great Escape" is probably one of the best Progressive Metal albums of the year, but compared to their former albums the band is well short of their potential in my opinion - hence the poor rating from me.

Now you've intrigued me. I've came across this band while looking into Myrath (one of the most innovative bands I came across in recent memory, albeit having some rough edges) through their label - "Nightmare Records" - which also had a little campaign promoting "The Great Escape". I bought both Mercy Falls and the above mentioned, but didn't had the chance yet to start listening to Mercy yet. If what you're saying is true - I guess I'm really in for a real treat

And by the way - I'm also a big fan of Circus Maximus, and Suspyre is on my queue of bands to check out next.

P.S. - speaking of up-and-coming bands, you really should give Darkwater's first album (Calling the Earth to Witness) a chance, it's an amazing work - especially compared to their latest effort which I found an enormous disappointment.

Written by DrM on 30.12.2010 at 09:50

Written by Guest on 29.12.2010 at 18:22

Yeah I must agree with you on one thing: Seventh Wonder IS a very accomplished and impressive bands compared to MOST other progressive metal bands. The only other progressive metal bands who really compare with SW is Suspyre (my personal favourite band of the style) and Circus Maximus.

SW has the talent, their songwriting is fantastic and the musicianship is awesome..along with one of the best vocalists Ive heard in a long time. And due to this Ive become severely fond of them and only expect the best - which is a bit of a two-edged sword I guess. So yeah, compared to other bands "The Great Escape" is probably one of the best Progressive Metal albums of the year, but compared to their former albums the band is well short of their potential in my opinion - hence the poor rating from me.

Now you've intrigued me. I've came across this band while looking into Myrath (one of the most innovative bands I came across in recent memory, albeit having some rough edges) through their label - "Nightmare Records" - which also had a little campaign promoting "The Great Escape". I bought both Mercy Falls and the above mentioned, but didn't had the chance yet to start listening to Mercy yet. If what you're saying is true - I guess I'm really in for a real treat

And by the way - I'm also a big fan of Circus Maximus, and Suspyre is on my queue of bands to check out next.

P.S. - speaking of up-and-coming bands, you really should give Darkwater's first album (Calling the Earth to Witness) a chance, it's an amazing work - especially compared to their latest effort which I found an enormous disappointment.

Speaking of Mercy Falls...have you heard "Waiting in the Wings"? The album before Mercy Falls. If not you MUST check it out, its my personal favourite of their discography its much more punchy and faster than the latest 2 albums - and seriously catchy!

And yeah you should definitely check out "When Time Fades" from Suspyre! At first I hated it because it has some pretty weird things going on, one song has a robot voice in it and theres quite a bit of sax in it as well. BUT after a few listens I realised those little strange touches is what makes the album so fantastic. Really really good band and very underrated....vocals very similar to that of Russel Alan of SX. So yeah maybe you should allow Suspyre to jump the queue :-P Hopefully you will like it, its a grower though - which in my case usually turns out to be the albums Im most fond of

Very nice end enjoyable album. All great songs, except maybe Move On Through, which is only one average song on album. This music formally is prog metal, but whole atmosphere is from prog rock, similar as Sieges Even. I just need more of this beautiful music.

What the fuck is wrong with Prog fans? :S This is one of the best albums I ever heard in almost every way.

Written by Alejandrom on 29.05.2011 at 19:31

What the fuck is wrong with Prog fans? :S This is one of the best albums I ever heard in almost every way.

maybe for you it's the best, that does not mean everyone should think the same as you (obviously). One listener's masterpiece can be another's disappointment.

Written by Alejandrom on 29.05.2011 at 19:31

What the fuck is wrong with Prog fans? :S This is one of the best albums I ever heard in almost every way.

If you still haven't heard Mercy Falls, you're in for a surprise then

Valaskjalf->then why the 5 rating man? it deserves a 10!

This is actually my favorite album by the band, every song shines like gold. The epic title track is a very powerful song, and the longest one I have ever heard period (30+ minutes ftw). The band sounds so tight and focused on this album and it just makes every single song very strong as a result. Awesome stuff!

Written by proud_nomad on 29.12.2010 at 12:07

Mercy Falls was a great album. The mission to improve that master could be impossible. Seventh Wonder made it! The Great Escape IS progressive metal.

I know what captivated you, it's the singer, he is really good and quite unusual for this genre. His voice is really what got me into this band.

Just an EPIC album!

Does the black widow on the cover symbolize something?

Written by Guest on 24.12.2012 at 05:35

It could symbolize a spider, but i'm not 100% on that

You're going to fit in here well, my good man.

Great riffage and so catchy. It is perfect.

Great music, especially the title track

This and Mercy Falls are among the greatest progressive metal albums of all time. I can't wait for their 5th record.

Written by DrM on 30.12.2010 at 09:50

P.S. - speaking of up-and-coming bands, you really should give Darkwater's first album (Calling the Earth to Witness) a chance, it's an amazing work - especially compared to their latest effort which I found an enormous disappointment.

You should really listen to them both. I actually prefer their second album (Where Stories End) by a very slim margin. The first album has a little more Andromeda and early DT influence, while the second has a little more early Symphony X and newer Adagio influence. The first is a little proggier, the second a little more melodic/catchy. I guess maybe the first might seem more explorative in a way, but just isn't as tight in the songwriting. They're both amazing IMO, but if you expect one to be just like the other, you might be a little disappointed. Luckily, I heard them both at the same time and was really impressed.

Written by Guest on 14.11.2010 at 15:10

Pretty disappointed with the album. Alley Cat is about the best song and its not even that epic. They were way too ambitious on the title track, clocking in at 30mins! When you do a song like that you need to keep the listener captivated, but the song just meanders and bores you. Theres also too many songs which sound the same, too many songs starting off soft with pianos and end up being somewhat mid-tempo....and lastly the lyrics are severely terrible. One of the songs go something like this "I wanna be high, in the sky until I die" or something like that....Honestly - that makes Sonata Arctica's lyrics sound profound.

Overall really bummed as Ive been a huge fan of theirs since "Waiting in the Wings" which was an absolute monster. Every song on that album was a hit....this one just seems lazy. Very little sticks in your mind and its just too much of the same with the vocalist seemingly disjointed from the band as theres no coherence between him and anyone else.

In my opinion you've been really hard with your comment saying that the album was pretty bad. In my first listen i actualy didn't enjoy it as much as i enjoyed listening to the earlier releases, and the title song bored me a little. However, i gave it a second try, this time reading all the lyrics ans trying to get myself into the music. And after the second more in-depth listen i fell in love with this album putting it on the same level or even higher than mercy falls and waiting in the wings, and now i find every song a masterpiece.

regarding "the great escape" track i can agree it is somewhat ambitious, but ultra long songs are somewhat frequent in prog metal and this one is all about the feelings it can transmit through the superb music and tommy's powerful vocals. That feeling of doom and isolation the members of the ship have, and the guilt they feel as humankind destroying the earth. When i understood the lyrics everything went into place and i no longer found it dull. You should give it a second try.