Sphere of Souls “From the Ashes…” CD

I recently picked up "From the Ashes...", the finally released debut full-length from Dutch progressive metal act Sphere of Souls on Lion Music (whose website was down at the time of this writing), after quite a bit of waiting. I first learned of Sphere of Souls' existence last summer when I posted about Imperium's overlooked classic "Too Short a Season", as Sphere of Souls features the impeccable vocal work of former Imperium frontman André Vuurboom (who also handles guitar these days), as well as the talents of Rob Cerrone, one of Imperium's guitarists. But while Imperium's songwriting was extremely technical and over the top, Sphere of Souls is significantly more stripped down, tending to follow more of a basic progressive metal format with relatively simple rhythm guitar arrangements accented by surprisingly effective keyboards.

Upon first listen I was a little disappointed by the lack of overt complexity within the tracks, knowing what these guys are capable of. However, given some time I really enjoy this album for what it is, because the songwriting and recording quality are quite professional, and there are still several impressive elements to this album—it's just a different approach than what I was anticipating. The generally restrained midpaced guitar work, for example, sets the stage for some amazing vocal performances from Vuurboom, whose harmonies and arrangements are quite amazing at their best, making him quite the dream vocalist for any band of this nature. And when present, the guitar solos are fuckin' great, so I can only wish they were more prevalent throughout the entire album! I'll indeed be looking forward to hearing what the band comes up with next, as I imagine they'll continue to grow and take things to the next level in the future. This is, after all, just the beginning...

Sphere of Souls "From the Ashes..."
Sphere of Souls "Room 6"

It's also worth mentioning that André Vuurboom and Sphere of Souls keyboardist Joost van den Broek also previously performed with Sun Caged, who I'm not familiar with due to my lacking ability to keep up with the progressive metal genre, so I ought to explore some of their work as well, simply out of respect for Vuurboom's abilities. Whatever the case, this is an enjoyable album that I hope others out there can appreciate, in which case I encourage you to purchase the CD for yourselves sometime:

@ The End Records