For those of you who don’t know, The Sea Within are a Prog supergroup – or collaboration – whichever you want to call them. If you’re thinking old school Prog then forget it – these guys are in the tradition of Transatlantic which also feature Roine Stolt. Anything with Marco Minneman on drums always gets my attention and this album is superb.
The writing, performance, and composition of the songs is incredible. The song takes more of a focus than rambling instrumentals that is usually associated with these types of project – although there are a couple of those. The track Broken Cord weighing in 14.20 mins is epic, with nods to all old and new influences – a true masterpiece. I love Roine’s vocal style on this track as it feels as though I am being personally told a story. As well as songs that you can immerse yourself in musically, there are also quite beautiful pieces like Denise, which closes out the album.
A wonderful record and I still play it a lot nearly four years after it’s release.
9.5/10 from The Grooveman.
