Album Review
The self-titled Book of Reflections is highly refined metal, completely written by prolific guitarist/keyboardist/bassist Lars Eric Mattsson with lyricist Connie Welen helping out on three of the 11 tracks. Recorded between April and December 2003 in Finland, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S., the music has a clarity that can become dizzying for those not obsessed with the genre, the final track, "Blood from a Stone," displaying the same intensity as "Going Through the Motions," though "Motions" has some dynamic movements to break up the headbanging. This is not your familiar sludge rock gone speed metal. These fellows take it to another artistic level — pristine production you're more likely to find on a recording from vintage Yes wrapping up cool titles like "Guardian of Time" in fast-paced progressive rocket riffs. Methodical and eerie, the group flirts with Iron Maiden and Scorpions ideas, but veers off in its own direction. The album is basically Mattsson's baby with lead vocals from four different singers — Andy Engberg (of Section A and formerly of Lion's Share), Winterlong's Mikael Holm, ex-Dreamscape member Hubi Meisel, and Torgny Stjärnfelt of Condition Red. The song "Book of Reflections" jumps right into the fray with no warning (or intro passage) and superb guitar work that makes the instrumental a standout. "Slippin' Away" takes things down a peg, showing these players can put the lightning-fast onslaught into slow motion and still make it work. Imagine a musician whose only song to study as an aspiring guitar slinger is Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," then push the turntable from 45 rpm to 78 rpm, and you'll have a good idea of the intensity of what the label calls "high-energy symphonic/neo-classical power metal." Mattsson's bass corresponds well with Eddie Sledgehammer's drums, but for an "all-star" project, flavors from another bassist or two could have added another dimension to the work. It has, after all, the same rhythm section found on Mattsson's 2001 re-recording of his 1988 album, Eternity. Still, it's a focused and solid project ranging from speed metal to melodic crunch rock, refining '80s licks and hitting hard.
