Band:	Alkimya
Album:	The Other Side
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	2007

01. The Gate Of Dreams
02. Fatal Attraction
03. Martyr Child
04. Hot Winter Cold Summer
05. Diva's Requiem
06. Forgotten People
07. The Other Side Part I
08. The Other Side Part II
09. The Other Side Part III
10. Kashmir [Led Zeppelin cover]
11. Elixir

"The Other Side" is the first album of a young combo from the region of Toulouse (France), Alkimya. After a really promising mini-CD released in 2005, the band finally released this year their first album and despite a really average production which doesn't help a lot the band, I can tell you that we're in front of a really nice album. The best will come for them I'm sure!

The best will come for Alkimya, I'm sure of it, but the worst came in 2006 when the original singer Jérôme Semmartin tragically deceased. The band decided however to continue the adventure and Pierre Placines replaced him in the line-up. And this tragically replacement didn't "damaged" the music of the combo because Pierre Placines is simply a great singer (and I'm honest here really). But the vocals aren't only the great point of Alkimya because the band plays a nice melancholic Progressive Metal which flirts which Prog Rock a la Marillion mixed with modern Prog Metal, it sounds good and all the song of the album are really interesting. For a first album it's a good surprise and it's great to see that a band is able to play such a mature music. Alkimya can become a good Progressive recognized combo of the French Metal scene I think.

On the other hand, if the music and the performance of the musicians are really good, the album suffers of a really big problem... The production is really average. I'm not talking about the album which is nicely presented in a cool digipack but the recording, mixing and mastering are not good at all. The voice of Pierre is ok but the guitars drums and bass are not very well mixed and in general it's even hard to hear the instruments. I'm a bit exaggerating probably but when you'll listen to the songs and see the quality of the music, you'll probably be a lot disappointed by the recording. "The Other Side" deserves a real professional sound and it's not the case unfortunately? but I'm sure that the band will find a way to have some better means of recording in the future. When you see the quality of the release, it will not be a real problem?

"The Other Side" is a great album of Progressive Rock/Metal which heaven features a nice original cover of Kashmir. Alkimya is a promising combo with a great singer and I can tell you that we will hear about them (at least in France) in a near future. If you're a fan of Prog and want to support the underground scene, just have a look on this release, Alkimya (really) deserve your help and support.