So here we have so-called mystic prog metal with opera, jazz and of course metal, orchestral arrangements, a producer renowned for classical composition, culminating in an album with a “progressive doom opera style, adding modern elements to the symphonic metal foundation”. It all sounds terribly ambitious.
The operatic female singer leads us in to this gloomy, mystical world. It is “The Path: Part 1”. This is followed by the dark and heavy symphonic prog start of “Scorched Earth”. I confess I’m not a great fan of female operatic vocals as others are. The dark symphonic metal accompaniment sounds familiar and laboured, to me at least. “Blood” continues in the same swirling dark vein. The lady does her operatic bit and I suppose sounds lofty. It is atmospheric and potentially epic but as she floats above the clouds, admittedly with a fine voice, I’m being left cold by the superficial histrionics. It’s actually quite calm. I think I prefer that to over-the-top flamboyance but again “Lilith” passed me by. The imperious weightiness of “Eve” is counterbalanced by more high -pitched warbling. A little guitar solo on “Alchemy” momentarily relieved the monotony but its place in the song wasn’t clear on what I was increasingly finding a shapeless album.
I felt a tinge of melancholy while listening to “Wayfaring Stranger” but it didn’t amount to much. The gloomy scene continued like a grey day, failing to excite or inspire me. I was having to concentrate now to get through this. The urgent symphonics of “Slice of Time” provide a spark and provide the vehicle for more operatic vocal gymnastics, but the highlight was a thunderously heavy symphonic interlude mid-way through, which appeared without apparent context. The vocalist exercised her range towards the end and that was it. And it was nearly it, as all that remained was “The Path Part II” which exited us from the mystical world just as Part I had brought us in. It was the bit in the middle which lost me.
It’s unfortunate that this album stylistically really isn’t my cup of tea. I do recognise that others may marvel at the loftiness of “Sacred & Profane”. Sure, the instrumentals were dark and pungent but for the most part seemed to act as a lead weight. The lady has a trained voice, but strangely fell into a neutral zone between story-telling and colourful expression. All in all, I couldn’t find anything dynamic about this album.
(3/10 Andrew Doherty)
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