7DAYS - review added 5th October 2010
Album Review: Into Forever (2010)
For fans of: Prog Rock... and 20 minute epics
7Days if the brainchild of Swedish guitarist, keyboardist, composer and artist Markus Sigfridsson (see his artwork here), known for his work with Harmony and Dark Water. The idea behind the project is to use songs he has written that don't fit in with the styles of his other bands.
Joining him to flesh out the sound are numerous well known and not-so-well-known musicians including Daniel Flores (Murder Of My Sweet) on drums, Kaspar Dahlqvist (Stormwind) performing some keyboard solos, Andreas Passmark (Royal Hunt, Narnia, Rob Rock) on bass. Vocals are handled by Thomas Vikström (Therion, Candlemass), Caroline Sigfridsson, Christian Liljegren (Divinefire) and Erik Tordsson.
"Into Forever" is the second release from 7Days, and follows the band's 2006 album "The Weight Of The World". I haven't heard the debut, so cannot compare new to old. This is is certainly a hotbed of prog rock activity, boasting a big theatrical, symphonic score, numerous key and rhythm changes, and huge passages of extravagant lyrics.
The result sounds amazing, but also manages to be spectacularly unmemorable. It's a real shame because I so wanted to love this album. The vibe it gives off almost puts shivers down my spine, but I strongly doubt I'll bother listening to any of it again once the review has finished. Perhaps it's simply too clever for it's own good, or too clever for me. Whatever...to my ears this is so close to and yet so far from genius it annoys the hell out of me. One exception is the second half of 'The Innocence In Me'. It's stunning.
Into Forever may well appeal to die hard prog fans, and I really hope a lot of people find something wonderful hidden within the depths of this album. It doesn't quite do it for me though.
Check out... The 2nd half of the 3rd track.
Track List:
01. Through Dark And Light
02. Into Forever
03. The Innocence In Me
04. You Hold The Key
05. Enter A Dream
06. Crossing
07. We Cry No More
08. Under The Sun
09. Scattered Mind
10. Final Wisdom
11. What Matters
Label: Liljegren Records
Artist's website(s): 7Days | MySpace
