A Sense of Change

Through the years I’ve grown to have very little tolerance for this side of the fanbase who blindly follow their idols regardless of how far said idols have voted to move from their roots, producing all kinds of travesties, riding an unenviable trajectory comprising all kinds of loads, reloads, ill-measured risks and other shite… yeah, those fans try hard to pretend that it’s business as usual, and that this “laughing stock of the family” status is simply a compulsory temporary crisis; they continue wearing proudly the band name on their sleeves, collars, lapels, etc. largely enamoured with what this name used to represent in the distant past. One gets the impression that even a recording consisting of Boney M or Britney Spears covers only assembled by their favourites would still rock their boat in a tempestuous, tsunami-like fashion.

For quite some time I belonged to the other extreme, the one that refused to accept even the slightest modification in a band’s style; an obstinate dogmatic stance thanks to which I missed out on quite a few great albums from the late-80’s/early-mid 90’s. I invariably caught up with those later once my mind opened more widely, but there’s this lurking sensation still left somewhere in my (sub)conscious which makes me press the “alarm” button every time a more or less radical transformation within a favourite act’s repertoire has been detected.

I remember how I hated “Steps”, the second outing of the band under scrutiny here, for being so different from the debut; in fact, I never even bothered tracking down this opus here when it came out a year later as I was convinced that this was going to be a criminal waste of time. It was quite a few years later when I decided to give it a listen, first cause I had alreadily (already + readily) accepted its predecessor in my blood stream, and second cause I read several glowing reviews about it there and elsewhere; not really here as the other two reviews featured in this section appeared later.

So I have listened to the album reviewed here several times again mostly due to the fondness other people, including some I know, have for it; however, this listen I gave it the other day would most likely be my last rendezvous with it. Being a most avid fan of the band, even had a fan club established a few years back (not anymore), I simply refuse to fall into the fans’ category described in paragraph one… I can’t welcome every single release from a band’s discography simply cause it’s been released by them no matter how many people salivate over its supposed gorgeousness. At the same time it would be not quite fair to review it in strict consideration and comparison to what came before it as it’s going to devaluate whatever merits a casual passer-by may come across.

Merits since musicians of such a calibre can’t possibly flop deplorably, a major reason why we will pretend now that this cassette has fallen in our lap just like that, out of the clear blue sky, in the midst of 1991, and that we have never heard of Sieges Even before… besides, who would ever bother checking out an outfit with such a weird name, right? But we will, we will as we like anything that comes with a sense of change, especially when the latter comes in the form of jumpy spacey rhythms ala the legends Rush served in “The Waking Hours”, only more leisurely and less suspensefully executed, a soothing rock/metal amalgam, the total opposite to a rude awakening. Since we don’t like it too nervy and hectic early in the morning, this carefree rockabilia seems to work alright, bonding well with the soothing operatic balladisms of “Change of Seasons” and the sprawling, but equally pacifying progressiveness of “Dimensions” on which whatever vestiges of metal have been detected earlier irrevocably disappear. It all comes back nicely, though, on the bouncy dynamic shredder “Prime”, the jazzy/funky layout of “Epigram for the Last Straw” distantly recalling the superior neurotic jolts on Watchtower’s “Control & Resistance”, the latter’s wise application livening up the otherwise pensive semi-balladic saga “These Empty Places”.

Fans of Rush again, but also Genesis, Jethro Tull and King Crimson would be left quite happy with this recording, and this is the pool where all those mentioned worshippers hail from. Alas, it will leave the metal audience out in the cold for most of the time including those who enjoyed the guys’ first two outings. Yes, the change in their style carried on unabated here transcending the more macabre atmospherics of its predecessor, the band aiming at the progressive rock fanbase, above all, looking to detach themselves from any more aggressive metal heroics. This has been done in a somewhat goofy, jam-like manner regardless of the classy musicianship and the excellent dramatic clean vocals, like the guys were not quite certain how deep down this path they wanted to reach, merely paying tribute to all things good within said roster. They don’t break any new ground whatsoever like they did with the sophomore, following well established paths, proficiently, also obediently playing by other artists’ rules, trying to see if those would be worth pursuing more steadfastly on future instalments.

How comfortable they must have felt without the metalclad veneer became only too obvious four years later when the excellent “Sophisticated” brought back the metal on full-throttle, a thrilling hectic jazzy “sophistication” which predated the similarly-styled opuses of the Watchtower connection Spastic Ink. by a few years, and had a really worthy follow-up (“Uneven”), the band finding their own niche within the progressive metal roster in the 90’s with ease. Alas, the stylistic hesitations in their camp continued the guys putting an end to the Sieges Even stint, opting for a more laid-back form of rock again under various monikers (Looking-Glass-Self, Val'Paraiso), coming full cycle… sorry, circle by bringing back the old name in 2003, and later epitomizing the same delivery for the still-operational Subsignal enterprise. The last two albums preserved the mellow trends recalling the one reviewed here, again generating a fair amount of positive reviews, again leaving the metal-prone fanbase indifferent for the most part. Well, it’s a life cycle, what can you do? Patterns and moments of it get repeated on more or less regular bases, making people wonder whether there can even be an end to it… I doubt it; it’s a perpetual motion a couple of (un)mitigated changes here and there notwithstanding.

I firmly believe there is something someone must accept before trying to review "A Sense Of Change". No matter if they liked it or not, nobody ever really understood it to its full extent. In my humblest opinion, this album is like newly found oceans to any new listener. Especially to a metal fan...

Having said that, I can proceed to share my view of that unexplored land called "A Sense Of Change". Well, pretty simply, it is one of the really few albums ever that deserve to be called "progressive" (check also: Rage For Order, Hemispheres, The Dark Side Of The Moon), meaning that it is TRULY innovative, and not just too complex or technical or just too soft to be called otherwise. Sieges Even made a great breakthrough with this, a breakthrough that unfortunately was to remain unnoticed, due to the complexity of their music. They reached out to jazz/fusion fields, keeping a prog rock core while, at the same time, they manage to sound like nothing prog or prog-like before them. This album features one of the best rhythm sections EVER in their magnum opus, and if you're a bassist or drummer, that alone is a good reason to listen to it. But besides the performance of the Holzwarth brothers, experiencing this piece of music is indescribable for the fan of progressive music. Attention! I didn't use the term "progmetal fan". Sieges Even have really little to do with even the greatest progressive metal bands (Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery etc.), not because they are exceedingly better in comparison, but just because they are a whole different story. They may be labeled as progmetal so we can sort things out, but their jazz/fusion influences in this particular album are just too many and just too strong for someone to clearly state that "this is metal". I know you are confused, just not SO confused when you'll be the first time you'll listen "Behind Closed Doors"...

Returning to what I stated in the beginning, know that trying to feel this one completely is like trying to go around the world on foot. You'll never do it. But you can try, and it will surely be a lifetime experience...

As the dawn of the 90’s appeared, Sieges Even releases their third release “A Sense of Change”, a fitting title considering that this work is notably different from their first two ones. It’s a rather melodic album and has a far more laid back and comfortable style to it, still, it carries a lot of Watchtower and Rush influences, but in a more melodic vein than Rush and a less chaotic and more emotional vein than Watchtower. It has some really tricky moments, there’s lot’s of complex time-signatures here, but the band masters them with great control and all of the songs has such a well performend and arranged style and the band glides through the music as a knife in warm butter, showing that these guys really can play, extremely well too! Jogi Kaisers vocals are excellent as well and he fits into the band well.

It’s excellently produced, the sound quality is clear and the instruments are perfectly balanced. Togheter with the excellent music, this gives the album a unique mood to it. It’s hard for me trying to find some weak moments here, the only one possibly being “Change of Seasons”, a pure classical track supported with an acoustic guitar. It’s a very good track, though I like the rest much better.

In sum: A unique and superb release, recommended to anyone who likes complexity in their music with great control, melodic and diverse songs backed up with flawless playing and great production. One of my finest discoveries from the prog-metal genre!