Band:	Ayreon
Album:	Transitus
Style:	Progressive metal, Progressive rock
Release date:	September 2020

Disc I
01. Fatum Horrificum
02. Daniel's Descent Into Transitus
03. Listen To My Story
04. Two Worlds Now One
05. Talk Of The Town
06. Old Friend
07. Dumb Piece Of Rock
08. Get Out! Now!
09. Seven Days, Seven Nights

Disc II
01. Condemned Without A Trial
02. Daniel's Funeral
03. Hopelessly Slipping Away
04. This Human Equation
05. Henry's Plot
06. Message From Beyond
07. Daniel's Vision
08. She Is Innocent
09. Lavinia's Confession
10. Inferno
11. Your Story Is Over!
12. Abby In Transitus
13. The Great Beyond

Transitus the latest record by the Dutch prog mastermind with way too many phone numbers in his mobile phone? Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Who did he call this time to perform on his latest record?

Well, we've got another all-star cast, with names like: Tommy Karevik, Simone Simons, Dee Snider, Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman and many more. Tom Baker (well-known from the Doctor Who series) also has a big part on Transitus, as he takes on the role of the narrator. But more on that later.

I'm going to start with some positive notes. First of all, there's the story. A story about forbidden love. Basically it's a Romeo and Juliet kind of tale mixed with some dark Victorian vibes.

Then we've got the production. It's as good as you expect it to be from an Ayreon album. a production that feels overall similar in style to the one we've experienced with The Source, very clean and balanced. Guitars and drums have punch, the bass is mixed in well and all the vocals get a chance to shine.

Speaking of which? the vocals on this record are overall well done. You've got dependable talent here and they deliver good performances. I never really got a "wow" feeling, though, and that's because there isn't really a chemistry. It more than often shows that the vocalists weren't in the same room to record, and that's a big issue for a drama/love story; you expect passion and a connection between the characters, but it isn't there.

For me there are 2 people that really stood out. Dee Snider's performance on "Get Out Now" is excellent and brings the necessary energy for a song like that. This is one of the few moments where I actually do feel a connection between the characters in that song. The second performance I want to mention is Tom Baker's; the narration he delivers on this record is really captivating and keeps the listener interested in the story from start to finish.

However, this is also the moment where I will talk about some of the issues that I have with this album. And the narration is the first thing I want to talk about. But I just told you that I liked Tom Baker's narration? Yes, but the problem here is not the performance, it's the fact that every single song is introduced by some narration, and a lot of that narration is unnecessary. either because it's already worked into the music (and it's repeating itself) or could have been worked into the music. This results in an album that severely suffers from a lack of flow. Half of the time it feels like you're listening to an audiobook, one with a lot of fluff added to it.

On top of that there's the issue that the emotions of the characters are stated rather than felt, and it isn't done subtle either. It's something that the previous record also suffered from in my opinion. But in a passion story it's even more jarring.

The music itself is solid throughout, performed by musicians who are great at their craft. But the songs themselves aren't exactly all that memorable. The first track that actually managed to shake things up for me is "Get Out Now", which is coincidentally the track which features Dee Snider. And honestly, it's probably the only track I will listen to on a semi-regular basis.

So what more is there to tell about Transitus? Well, not a lot. I'm glad I gave it a listen just for the enjoyable story. The second listen (which I did for this review) was already more than enough. This record won't get (m)any repeated listens in the future. It isn't memorable enough for that.