Band:	Animations
Album:	Animations
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	July 16, 2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. Intro / Dare You Enter?
02. Sonic Maze
03. 911
    1 - Introduction/Overture
    2 - Realization
    3 - Retrospection
    4 - The Prayer
04. The Four Symptoms
    1 - E.D.S.
    2 - Cataplexy
    3 - Hypnagogic Hallucinations
    4 - Sleep Paralysis
05. Oranges
06. Lost In Infinity
07. 912 (The Day After)
08. Animations

Animation is a progressive instrumental combo from Poland. Their first album "Animations" is a nice release of complex music which will be perfect for all the Metalheads who like to listen to music which is not easy of access and definitely a bit "elitist". I know, some people (and I'm not blaming them!) can't stand this kind of Metal but if you're into Prog and like to "torture" your brain, this is for you no doubt!

This first album is already a good sign for the future of the band. In my opinion, Animations already confirms with this release that they're great musicians and compositors. We only have height songs on the CD but the average length of each track is near of nine minutes, and this is evidently impressive. A bit like with Dream Theater (it's impossible to avoid this name when you listen to Animations) the music of Animations is a complex mix of Metal, Jazz and Rock. This is progressive of course, all the songs have a ton of breaks, rhythm changes, the keyboards are really present and this is complex as hell. You can already expect a lot of guitar soli and I think that the fans of the genre will like to listen to this musical demonstration?

A musical demonstration, that's a good way to describe the first album of Animation. Don't expect any lyrics here, the songs are all instrumental which means that despite its really good production, "Animations" can become quickly boring if you're not into this kind of music. I like such Metal and I can tell you that I enjoyed a lot the CD but if I can understand the ones who will say that it's just a musical demonstration, that it's elitist and in the end that it's a bit too "smart" and intellectual to be enjoyed. This kind of Progressive Metal is all but not commercial and maybe that those people are not so wrong but the die hard Progressive Metal fans will not care of such comments anyway and will probably find a lot of things for them in this release.

As you can understand, this is just a matter of taste. If you're into Progressive Metal no doubt that you'll love this first album. The guys are good and their first release is promising for their future (the addition of a vocalist could be a good thing in my opinion). On the other hand, if you're allergic to Prog, especially to the really complex one, go away this is definitely not for you!!! Recommended to the true fans of Prog Metal only (and to all the ones who like to play with their Rubix Cube!!!)