Vanden Plas – The Seraphic Clockwork (2010) – Review by Logan Lee

Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Vanden Plas – The Seraphic Clockwork (2010) – Review by Logan Lee

After a 4 years wait since Vanden Plas’ last album (the extraordinary Christ O), some side projects and a change of discography record company (from Inside Out to Frontiers Records) Vanden Plas has returned with a brand new concept CD called The Seraphic Clockwork. The story, as explained by the band itself (the story was written by Andy Kuntz), is about a journey from 16th century Rome to sacred land Jerusalem in the year 33 A.D. (obviously a time and space travel); The protagonist, after an apocalyptic vision, has come under the spell of an Old Testament prophecy and must travel back through the centuries to face his God-given destiny. Vanden Plas has perfectly combined their recent achieved theater experience with their consecrated ability on progressive metal. I have talked with some colleagues and looked around on the net for other opinions and almost everybody thinks that this is the best Vanden Plas ever but even if I agree with them for what concerns lyrics’ composition I still believe that as a whole Christ O is a half degree above (meaning that this album is their second best, which is still a good thing since the above mentioned album is a masterpiece in my very humble opinion). Nevertheless, this band is digging deep into progressive and symphonic foundations finding some quite amazing musical arrangements.

For what concerns the tracks my favorite is (doubtless I must add, for its complexity and prog influences) Quicksilver but I shall also mention tracks number 1,3 and 8 (Frequency, Scar of an Angel and On my way to Jerusalem respectively). Besides, bonus track Eleyson is very interesting and I can’t understand the reason it has been left aside (maybe it did not fit into the story).

Concluding I must say that after a long time waiting Vanden Plas has not let us down and actually released a great album, their first on Frontiers Records adventure, either musically and lyrically and, to top this review off, the vote is a 9,0 / 10 for their ability to maintain prog roots and yet insert heavy, power and symphonic arrangements. Great album indeed, highly suggested to prog metal fans.

Tracklist:

01. Frequency

02. Holes In The Sky

03. Scar of an Angel

04. Sound of Blood

05. The Final Murder

06. Quicksilver

07. Rush of Silence

08. On My Way to Jerusalem

09. Eleyson

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