“Reset Your Soul” is the second album from Animations from Poland. We’re told their New Wave of Progressive Metal follows the path of their fellow countrymen Riverside and Votum. They may follow the same path but whilst there are musical similarities, on the strength of this album I would they say there’s a much higher degree of Prog in its purest sense and less atmospheric build-up than these other bands. The short and reflective “Request for Redemption” and parts of “The Last Man” have Riverside stamped onto it, but of most of the rest this intense 65 minute affair is quite different.
Big, expansive and fast is how I’d describe the title track “Reset Your Soul” which opens up this album. This is typical. The guitar style tends towards Power Metal but what I heard most of all is some template Prog-Power Metal. There is drama in there but it dispels too quickly, besides which there was no great build up to this point. I sense that the band is full of ideas and they haven’t got time to hang around. “Demons of War” is similar. There’s a fast and exciting section at the end following an unusual and short jazz interlude. “Inscrutable” has a short and imaginative other-worldly section which mixes things up a bit again it doesn’t develop the idea. Instead we’re taken back to the sharp changes of movement which go with technical Prog fusion of this kind. There’s no doubting the technical ability of this band, but the failure to develop anything is frustrating. Typically “The Last Man” fades out after 13 minutes in the middle of an emotionally-charged guitar passage. It’s not as if the passages increase in intensity. “1989” is another mix of the good, the interesting and the bland. The better guitar-based passages reminded me very much of Pagan’s Mind, particularly on “1989” and “The Manhattan Project”, but whilst I appreciated the quality, there’s no apparent context and we’re soon heading off into something else which isn’t so good. The album bashes on like a sophisticated jam to which as the listener we’re left wondering whether we’re invited. There are interesting and unexpected moments, such as the choir on “Toxicyber” and the odd Oriental moment, but because of its fragmented nature this is an album where the whole is less than the sum of the individual parts.
With the multitude of ideas, “Reset Your Soul” is like an experimental Prog project. All the essential ingredients are there of a Prog album but whilst it can be intense and original, at other times it isn’t and in any case we’re never allowed to soak in the atmosphere, such as it is, or enjoy it. I’m not one for “concept albums” particularly, but there are just too many ideas here to allow any sort of definition or direction. As a result, whilst appreciating the technical qualities and production of “Reset Your Soul”, it left me cold. I find the title slightly ironic because the very thing this album lacked for is soul. With some adjustments it could have been so much more enjoyable. It’s by no means a bad album but I do consider that Animations have work to do to engage their listeners in what they are doing.
http://www.animations.com.pl
http://www.myspace.com/animationsofficial
