We've heard the saying "Too many cooks spoil the broth." What do too many cooks do to a progressive rock album? We certainly have many such cooks on this debut disc from Shadrane: We have the brothers Bissonette (Matt and Gregg), Vivien Lalu, Joop Wolters, Henrik Båth of the fantastic Darkwater, Marco Sfogli (who played guitar on James LaBrie's Elements of Persuasion album), Gary Wehrkamp of Shadow Gallery...and that's only about half.

So, returning to the question: what do too many cooks do to the proverbial prog rock broth? They make a fine, fine album. Temporal is a fantastic mesh of different styles and a great album all around.

It's difficult to know where to begin in speaking about this album, as there's simply so much offered. Among its many strengths is the simple fact that there's so much going on. Even from the first track, Temporal, the band provides slow piano, mid-tempo prog, and some pretty heavy metal. Especially noteworthy about this track is the vocal performance of Darkwater's Henrik Båth. Those unfamiliar with Darkwater should find a pleasant surprise in his performance. In addition, the middle section of the song contains a heavier vocal performance with some backing grunts/growls. All of this falls within the four-and-a-half-minute first track.

The album offers plenty more, including tracks that could be labelled power metal, power prog, or even pop. For example, the slow yet powerful "Rainy" has a symphonic feel to it, especially in the chorus, yet contains some subtle touches that give it a more pop-oriented feel to it. "Lanterns Dance" starts with a keyboard sound that definitely gives it a far eastern feel. The later part of the song, however, provides a contrast between slow, clean vocals and near screaming. "Consider It" is another more straightforward song--a bit more pop influences are apparent, though the instrumentation is still very strong.

With such variety, though, there will almost certainly be some songs that don't appeal to every listener. Personally, Manzanar is one song that doesn't really sit well with me. The vocal styles are rather strange in many places: the opening vocals are a weird mix of singing and talking, and later in the song there are some high-pitched vocalizations and some repetitive half-screaming. In all, the track just doesn't seem put together very well.

A brief mention is owed to the concept of the album: the story of a Navy commander in charge of a U.S. submarine. In all honesty, the best description of the album's concept is available at this page on the Lion Music website. In short, though, the concept is quite involved, though somewhat difficult to glean from the lyrics alone.

There's some truly fantastic music to be found on this disc. The guest appearances from so many musicians seem, for the most part, to have a very positive effect upon the album's music. Barring a few of the less cohesive tracks, this is a wholly enjoyable album with tons of intricate details for listeners to discover. It's a disc I can highly recommend--but be prepared to find a track or two that you don't love.

Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com