Paramount's Heir

There are always bands that receive much more respect and recognition than actual sales, and this is very common in progressive circles. I would say that Germany's Sieges Even is a perfect example of this phenomenon. They started off as a very complex thrash metal band influenced by Watchtower, but by their second album it became obvious they are anything but ordinary. In 1991, "A Sense Of Change" combined an ethereal, lyrical style with the technical prowess of prog rock but the time was a bit too early for the audience. After a few more albums where the band tried to be more accessible and the resulting disappearance, Sieges Even were back two years ago with a new vocalist and an absolute masterpiece, called "The Art Of Navigating By The Stars". In this album, they worked from a new perspective and improved the already high level of "A Sense Of Change".
So, it is a very difficult job for the successor! "Paramount" doesn't stray far, it is clearly a heavier album, and Rush is a much more obvious influence. Everything we love about Sieges Even is present, the warm vocals, the lyricism, the discrete yet admirable technicality. The more prominent guitars will certainly please a lot of people, but as I said, it is difficult to repeat the perfection that was "The Art Of Navigating By The Stars". In any case, "Paramount" is still an album that you will proudly include in your collection.

The Way To Constantinople

I am rarely impressed by new bands these days, but ok, wow! "The Varangian Way" by finnish metallers Turisas had me at first note and I was frozen for the rest of its duration. Epic, symphonic, folk or whatever you want to call it, I can't find a single flaw about it. Adding the fact of its wonderful concept, "The Varangian Way" completes a triad of what we should call "ethnographic" metal (yeah, I just made it up!!), the other two members being Orphaned Land's "Mabool" and Solefald's "Red For Fire".
The variety and richness of sounds is amazing. Vocal-wise you will listen to clean and brutal vocals, choirs, the dry and acidic Martin Walkyier-variety, Viking bards and more. Folk instruments, of course, like flute and accordeon. Keyboards that use both classical elements and the majestic brass sound that would put Bal-Sagoth to shame. The guitar work, while not something extraordinary, is exactly as it should sound. Heavy and groovy but also melodic and a guest player when needed. You will even be surprised to listen to a small part of progressive experimentation that manages to not seem out of place at all, in the masterpiece that closes the album "Miklagard Overture".
The story of the album involves the adventure of a group of Northmen as they travel the Varangian way, a river route from the North to Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. This reminds me an excellent novel I read, Stephen Lawhead's "Byzantium" , as such an adventure is central to it! Like the book, Turisas's album is an adventure in history...click on the post's title to experience it in full!

Link found at http://metalwords.wordpress.com/

The Silver Voice

Lisa Gerrard's voice is an experience that is the closest I have come to what people describe as "spiritual". Sweetly haunting, it usually sings no words, but you feel it says so much.
Her career with Dead Can Dance offered us albums of unsurpassed quality. Her later collaborations, including quite a few Hollywood movie soundtracks, were both artistic and commercial successes, mostly due to her own presence.
"The Silver Tree" is her second official solo album and while I was pretty certain of its quality before listening, I wasn't prepared to be surprised. Yes, it seems we haven't heard everything from Lisa Gerrard just yet. "The Silver Tree" is a very dark album...not in the gothic way of "Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun", but touches ambient and trip hop territory. You will hear Gerrard sing in ways you haven't before. Of course, her trademarks are still present...the eerie chants, the heartbreaking incantations. You will not find the ethnic elements that dominated the last Dead Can Dance albums, but all the haunting creepiness is there.
"The Silver Tree" is not recommended for everyone or for everytime...it's best enjoyed in the dark, with your eyes closed and your mind open.

Born For Language

Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist and cognitive scientist, but more importantly a very talented writer. "The Language Instinct" is one of the most interesting and well-written books I have read. It shouldn't be surprising for an author who writes about language to use it so masterfully.

In his book, Pinker attempts to show that the ability of the human species to speak and understand language can be explained with Darwin's powerful idea of natural selection. The experimental evidence suggests that there is a physical area in the human brain that underlies language. This area is responsible for the hard-wiring of the fundamental aspects of language in every human brain. Even though there are countless languages spoken (or signed) today, they all share a universal template of grammar (which resides in the brain) that is subsequently trained by baby experience to receive the form of a modern language.

Pinker brings forth a wealth of examples and experiments to support his ideas that are extremely convincing. For instance, there are diseases or instances of damage to specific areas of the brain (in the left hemisphere) that impair one's ability to speak or understand language. This clearly shows that language has a physical aspect. Pinker then goes to explain how such an aspect could evolve and does a great job at it.
Steven Pinker, and many others with him, probably closed with their research another gap in our knowledge of how the world works. What amazes me all the time is that the explanation is even more wonderful than the mystery itself, and Steven Pinker does well to convey this amazement to the reader.

The Road To Hell

...is paved with good intentions, or so the saying goes. This couldn't be more true for Light Yagami, main character of the Japanese anime series "Death Note". Light is a 17 year old student of an exceptional intellect and impeccable reputation whose life changes when he comes across a strange notebook. The notebook was dropped into the human world by one of the Death Gods, Ryuk, who was looking for some entertainment, and Light was quick to provide it. The Death Note has the power of killing any person whose name is written in it, provided its owner knows that person's face. Numerous rules also allow control over the time and the circumstances of someone's death. Light sees this as an opportunity to rid the world of evil; by disposing of criminals and people he judges as evil himself, he will create a better world. And Light, being the judge and creator of this world, will naturally be the world's God.
Things don't stay easy for long, though. The large number of deaths draw the attention of the mysterious detective known only as "L", while the media dubs Light as "Kira". L is as brilliant as he is eccentric and makes life very hard indeed for Kira. The two of them engage in an exciting chase as they try to outwit each other, L needing evidence, Kira needing just a name for his Death Note. Things get complicated when FBI agents, Kira's family and even more Death Gods get involved.
"Death Note" stands out for its unique story and the timeless questions it raises but also for the exciting plot lines that don't allow you to watch just one episode at a time. I read somewhere that it's the "Prison Break" of anime, and I can definitely understand the comparison. I am only half-way through the series so I can't give you a definitive opinion. So far, I am disturbed by Kira's emotionless sense of justice and intrigued by L's weirdness and powers of deduction. For now, I will speculate that L may have a connection with the Death Gods and I will get back on you later!

The 3+1 Musketeers Of Atheism

Atheism is rising fast as a coherent, self-reliant thinking and moral framework. You may not have noticed because, in western societies, religion is a topic of casual tradition that is of little consequence to everyday life. Of course, this is slightly generalizing - the difference between european and american societies is not subtle. In any case, atheism is no longer an abstract unbelief held by a few eccentrics, but a promising ideology for the future, with a rapidly rising number of followers. Some very remarkable individuals have taken the lead in this paradigm shift, all with their own unique style.
There is Richard Dawkins, who is a renowned zoologist and professor at Oxford University. He has authored numerous books about biology, zoology and evolution. His contribution to the public understanding of the theory of evolution is immense and his own understanding is that evolution strikes a death blow to foundational religious beliefs about the specialness of humankind. His latest book "The God Delusion" is the first that deals specifically with religion and has sold about 1 million hardcover copies already. Dawkins deals with religion in a most scientific fashion, demanding proof for every claim and demolishing popular but false philosophical arguments for the existence of God. His style is calm, clear and only mildly sarcastic.
Sam Harris was an unknown philosophy graduate (who is currently completing a doctorate in neuroscience) before he published "The End Of Faith" and most recently "Letter to a Christian Nation". In those books, he highlights the dangerous irrationalities of religious belief and makes a case for separating spirituality from religion, as a genuine human need that can be addressed without invoking the supernatural. Personally, I haven't yet read a writer that delivers or demolishes arguments with such direct and devastating clarity. As is evident in the many debates he has taken part in, Sam Harris's style is very polite, calm and controlled as the effectiveness of his arguments doesn't require him to raise his voice.
Daniel Dennett is an accomplished philosopher who has made a lot of research in the matter of consciousness and his insights will probably be monumental in the future development of cognitive sciences. While not a vocal atheist, his book "Breaking The Spell" explains religion away in a thorough fashion that highlights the necessity of atheism. His style is somewhat more difficult as he addresses the philosophy-curious person as well as the general reader. Nonetheless, his contribution is important as it deals with territory that is unexplored and severs what few ties religion holds with reality.
Christopher Hitchens is probably the most fearsome of the four. A renowned author and columnist, he is an odd defender for atheism considering he politically leans to the right. In his latest book with the provocative title "How Religion Poisons Everything", Hitchens uncovers religious atrocities across history and the immoralities that underlie religious beliefs in a direct and brutal fashion. In his debates, Hitchens avoids niceties and unearned respect for his opponents. His controversial attitude though is also important because ridicule is a potent weapon that religion hasn't yet faced.
There are other notable writers like Victor Stenger ("God, The Failed Hypothesis") and Michel Onfray ("The Atheist Manifesto") but the 4 above are the most prominent. I am not sure whether these people are leading the wave of rising atheism or simply riding it, but it is clear that things are changing in areas that remained static for a very long time indeed.

Lost In The Mirror

Don't read below if you don't want to be spoiled!

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to claim that Lost's 3rd season finale was two of the most satisfying hours of tv time ever. I read somewhere that Lost is probably the only series that doesn't underestimate the intellect of the viewers. Nothing is served, ready and waiting for your consumption. This isn't a cop-out in the sense that the writers can cook up infinite stories out of vague clues. No, the hints are not subtle, but they remain hints and not boring facts. This is crucial to the reason why "Lost" has become a cultural phenomenon that transcends the limits of a mere tv show. How insulting for your intelligence it would be if Ben came out and said, "Hey, the smoke monster can take human form!". We never saw it happen, no one has said it, but it's a solid conclusion nonetheless. So, I will be a little harsh and say that anyone who asks "How did Walt get on the island now?" should go watch Ugly Betty instead.
"Through The Looking Glass" was an episode that delivered on every level, but "Lost" has many such episodes. What is so special in this case, is that the show changed direction and goals and the way this change was presented. What could be more surprising in that the goal of a show about castaways is NOT their rescue. Of course, "Lost" has made it clear that it is not a show about the mundane rescue of some plane crash survivors, but everyone couldn't help but assume that rescue would coincide with the conclusion of the series. It turns out that rescue is irrelevant to the goals of the series, or just a necessary step towards them.
In a rather Lost-esque way though, we never actually see the rescue. The viewers are tricked by the usual "flashback" technique of the show to assume they are watching scenes that took place in the past of the plane crash, while the real time events are moving toward the prospect of rescue. Only in the final scene, it is made clear that what we are watching is the future and rescue has happened, as was hinted on the real time scenes on the island. Of course, we are still far from resolution, as there are a lot of questions.
Who are on the rescue boat if it's not Penny Widmore's people? Why does Ben warn this will be "the beginning of the end"? Who is the person in the coffin, whose death almost drove Jack to suicide? Why does Jack desperately want to return to the island?
There is now a blank in the time sequence of the show that starts just before rescue and ends some undefined time later at the last scene of the episode. This makes predictions about where the show will go on the 4th season very hard indeed. Will we see the rescue? Will we see events after the rescue, or events after Jack's last encounter with Kate when he pleaded with her to go back to the island? The details of the rescue itself are important and will now feed endless debates until the show resumes on February 2008. If patience is a virtue, then Lost fans are saints.

Systemizing Chaos

Dream Theater are releasing their 9th studio album and I believe there's no one who knows their name that treats this fact with indifference. The band that put the term "progressive" into metal hardly needs to prove anything anymore. Yes, it's been a long time since Dream Theater's music was progressive in any real sense but that's way beside the point. John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess and John Myung play their instruments as if they were extensions of their bodies. With such remarkable ease come a lot of options, and Dream Theater can just pick and choose what kind of music to play. They just happen to like 70s prog rock and 80s heavy metal the best!
"Systematic Chaos" combines the best elements from the previous two albums and rejects most of what made fans complain. It's true that Dream Theater fans are very diverse and very hard to please, but I suspect that this album will be a lot less divisive than "Train Of Thought" with its excessive heaviness, and "Octavarium" with its obvious commercialism were. The album opens in the best way with "In The Presence Of Enemies part 1". I was getting bored of the "rock-hit" wanna-be openers of their previous two albums. This time we get a 5 minute instrumental intro, true to their Rush heritage before James LaBrie comes in. You may have noticed that LaBrie's vocals have improved greatly in "Octavarium" and the improvements remain here.
It's not a coincidence this album contains two songs that pay tribute to 80s thrash metal, both music and lyric-wise ("Constant Motion" and "The Dark Eternal Night"). Dream Theater's new label is Roadrunner and the band knows exactly how to impress them. "Systematic Chaos" also contains the first slow and mellow Dream Theater song that hasn't bored me in a while, the dark and hypnotic "Repentance". Any songs written for success? Yep, that's "Forsaken" and it rocks! And of course there are long epics like "The Ministry of Lost Souls" and "In The Presence Of Enemies part 2". It wouldn't be a Dream Theater album otherwise!
"Systematic Chaos" shouldn't surprise anyone, as Dream Theater are not up to reinventing the wheel for the second time. Its purpose is to delight your ears, and that's a success.