Band:	Expedition Delta
Album:	Expedition Delta
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	March 04, 2008
A review by:	Raiden

01. Asunder Hearts
02. Fading Images
03. Self Abstract
04. Into The Halls Of Eternity
05. Flight With The Mind
06. The Awakening
07. Move On
08. Planets
09. Not Too Late
10. Reach For The Light
11. It Needs A Happy End

Expedition Delta, masterminded by guitarist Srdjan Brankovic is kind of like Progressive Metal's Folkearth. I guess "Progearth" didn't seem like a suitable name, but regardless, the band features some 17+ members including some of Srdjan's fellow Alogia band mates, but also musicians like Erik Norlander and Richard Andersson. There are quite a few artist collaborations or "supergroups" appearing recently, so let's see how this particular expedition stacks up.

From the start of the album, one of its standout downsides rears its head. The first two tracks "Asunder Hearts" and "Fading Images" show that Srdjan is trying very hard to achieve a high level of catchiness in the music and vocals. Unfortunately, this leads to a kind of hybrid of Progressive Metal and pop music. The vocals especially lean to long held notes and "whooaaa's". Thankfully though some good songs do shine through. "Fight With The Mind" is filled with virtuosic guitar playing and well as faster drumming and speedy keyboard solos. A non-linear progressive feel comes through on this track. The bad thing about "Expedition Delta" though is that the "popier" songs keep appearing. The song "Move On" is another example of uninspired lyrics and mainstream sounding vocals. Tracks like this just made me want the end of the album to come. The yoyo effect of bad song/good song continues however as the last few tracks aren't so bad. On "Not Too Late" Nikola Mijic's vocals finally sound right. Here he at least sounds strong and he sings with effort, fitting well with the guitars and drums. It does feel like a bit too little too late though.

So while the musicianship with Expedition Delta is rather good, the song writing is a bit lacking. Srdjan is pretty much at the peak of guitar playing and his technicality shows he's mastered his instrument. The keyboard work, drumming etc is all also at quite a high level it's just a shame that Expedition Delta is a bit hit and miss with having catchy songs and ones that sound embarrassingly pop-like. Being only half a decent album, Expedition Delta gets only half marks from me.