Infinity Divine

If one word could describe this album, it would be celestial. Some may say this album is disjointed as I first thought after flippantly listening through: Frequent tempo changes, a guitar solo here and there, a passing keyboard flourish followed by a mid-tempo breakdown, but after a few listens, I finally was awakened to the beauty of this beast. This album pictures what the album art implies: A journey through the endless cosmos. A journey like this will be disjointed; a meteor storm here, a new planet there, maybe some extraterrestrial life you discover and bond with.. but in the end you realize this disjointed journey pictures a breathtaking 3D adventure through a vast and unknown universe.

The production and musicianship are outstanding. This album is not an overproduced robot of a record so many modern metal bands seem to make. The drums aren't super triggered and the guitar does not dominate the mix. The production is very balanced and aimed at providing a very atmospheric experience that lives up to the vastness of the universe and all of its mysteries. The biggest focus in the mix seems to be the keyboards and the atmosphere Ronny Tegner (the keyboardist wizard) provides. Just listen to the intro of Embracing Fear to see how atmospheric this album is. The varied sounds of his Korg provide uniqueness to every single track that does not dominate, but creates a cushion of beauty that encapsulates the listener. I understand some people don't like a lot of keyboards, but nothing is sacrificed here. Jørn Viggo Lofstad is a monster guitarist whose Petrucci-esque guitar tone shines through his abundant and beautiful solos. The riffs he crafts hit harder than a meteor yet steer the spacecraft smoothly during the verses. One of my favorite guitar solos of all time is the ending of A New Beginning. His tone and phrasing is so pristine, you can't help but smirk as you retrospectively think about all that you went through. It's the perfect way to end the album. The drummer Stian Kristoffersen provides technical and varied fills and flares but does not dominate at any point, providing the heartbeat of the music. Steinar Krokmo, the bassist, does not really stand out in the record, but manages to keep up with the complexities of this album. Nils K Rue's voice provides beautiful oratory through the hugeness of the universe, espousing a higher being with a deeper knowledge than we have. Some of these descriptions may sound vague, but after listening, you will understand it is the only way to describe this masterpiece. Its amazing how well this album is produced while staying balanced musically, as nearly every instrument has its moment throughout the record. It's no wonder some of the musicians in the band went on to work with some of the most prominent figures in the metal community such as Jørn Lande and Uli Kusch (ex-Helloween). This album is mostly mid to fast-tempo progressive power metal, but has many variances. If I had to draw a similarity, it sounds like Dream Theater's Images and Words more than any other album I can think of, even though you couldn't make the connection right away. There are some darker moments in the album, such as Dawning of the Nemesis, but there are also brighter moments such as A New Beginning. I personally love when a band has varied moods throughout the album, not just dark or bright. The whole concept of Pagan's Mind was birthed through inspiration from the 90s classic Stargate. It's a cheesy movie that many despise, but no one can deny the atmosphere the movie provided, as its influence is exemplified here. This is incredible, because such a small movie would really define a large chunk of Pagan's Mind's catalog-one of the finest in prog/power.

The only complaints I have are that this album is disjointed in some places. It does picture a beautiful experience, but could make it difficult for some to digest. For example, the first real song Caught In a Dream has a drum pattern that seems a little off in the beginning. Also, Angels' serenity's chorus tends to go for a long time, getting lost in places. Their later albums seem more coherent than this one, but I think those rookie mistakes enable the album to have a lot of interesting parts that give you something to look forward to in every song. Think of it like stained glass windows: Broken glass that is refined to meld together into a beautiful colorful sight. It may take awhile to digest into this beautiful experience, but you will definitely come across some awesome moments the first listen through that will keep you coming back for more, such as the entirety of A New Beginning, the riff in Embracing Fear, King's Quest, and the chorus of Infinity Divine. Some may find this album a little cheesy since it pictures a cheesy '90s movie, but it's difficult to decipher for me, since the instruments and vocals are really divine and don't exude any sense of pretension.

It's great when a band can picture an idea, make music that connects the listener to that idea, and deliver a seamless experience that lacks nothing. This is art at its best. That is what is put on display here: A journey through the cosmos that won't be soon forgotten once experienced. Get this album if you like progressive or power metal that isn't a Symphony X/Dream Theater clone... or if you desire a journey that brings you to a new world.

This good debut album sports a creativity larger and higher than most of the other progressive/power metal bands out there, but that creativitity and deviation from the norm is also part of what's holding it back from greatness. It truly sounds like no one else but I'll leave it to you to decide if that enhances its quality or detracts from it. Luckily they would break from these restrictions and ascend into manufacturing classics.

Later albums would take a huge departure from their humble beginnings, which sound much cleaner and less distorted than this very odd sounding debut outing. It's a big mix of progressive and power metal (this outing is the only where the style is slanted more towards power), with some ludicrously long songs that definitely seem long on each listen, but don't sound like they should be as long. Take for example the first full length song on the album (Caught In a Dream). It could have been the usual verse / chorus / verse / chorus / solo / chorus, but no, they take it the distance with several bridges and four verses, totaling at nine minutes!

It's just one of the many things that makes Pagan's Mind unique. The guys (including mostly vocalist Nils K. Rue) are obviously very spiritual, too, giving an explanation on the purpose of their ideas, the band itself, and the album also. The lyrics are pretty... well, they're lyrics. The expert songwriting of Pagan's Mind by this point had not quite come to fruition. The songlengths and bewildering production make this a hard album to get into, and it definitely not recommended as a first listen into Pagan's Mind. It is by no means bad, but check out Celestial Entrance and Enigmatic Calling first and revisit this underground debut. (Also, don't fall for that rerecorded version; the original is actually better.)

It’s difficult to go wrong with Pagan’s Mind if you have an ear for unconventional music that somehow manages to seem conventional the whole time through. Their entire sound is essentially a tightrope walk between the melodic and symmetrically structured style of power metal and the technically impressive and stylistically defiant prog. metal genre. There is a sort of cosmic or outer spacey nature to their songs, very idiomatic to the astrology and mythology of the pagan cultures that they take their name sake from.

“Infinity Divine” is unique amongst the four albums that they’ve recorded in that it is tilted more towards the power metal genre with a strong prog. element, rather than balancing the hybrid 50/50. It contains all of the middle-eastern interludes, Lydian mode chord progressions for that Stargate affect that is their trademark and plenty of guitar and keyboard majesty that avoids the overbearing tendencies of Dream Theatre and a few others.

The album kicks off with an intro that sounds like a satellite transmitting radio waves before coming into an airy keyboard line that makes you picture a sea of comets swirling around a nebula in some distant galaxy. Unlike the opener of “Celestial Entrance” it is more of a prelude and less of a short instrumental composition. What follows is a series of well conceived, though by the standards of the band, extremely polarized songs when you compare them to each other.

“Caught in a Dream” is very simple and combines a series of complex guitar grooves with an extremely dense atmosphere, painting a mystic illustration of interstellar travel without motion via the mind. The title track, “Embracing Fear”, “Astral Projection” and “Twilight Arise” are mostly power metal in style; and although the rapid changes in feel and the somewhat odd rhythmic devices give them a prog. twist, the choruses just scream epic power. The mixture of sounds on each of these songs varies, much of it accomplished through vocal effects while relying on traditional guitar and keyboard sounds.

Other stuff on here goes in the exact opposite side of the hybrid and simply relies upon unconventional devices to throw the listener for a loop. “Dawn of the Nemesis” and “King’s Quest” both rely heavily on keyboards and run-on verse melodies that is not far removed from Symphony X’s approach, albeit with a radically lighter atmosphere. “A New Beginning” is one of the strangest songs I’ve heard out of any band, especially considering the strong power metal tendencies of the rest of the album. It progresses through a series of heavy riff-driven sections, occasionally hitting a few dissonant chords, and then out of nowhere the middle section morphs into a jazzy ballad complete with a piano solo.

And as if the surprises were seemingly over, the closing track is essentially the greatest cover of a King Diamond classic I’ve ever heard. I’ve heard power metal veterans like James Rivera attempt to perform a song by him and not even come close to matching his neurotic and technical vocal acrobatics, but somehow Nils Rue not only matches the King, he actually surpasses him in technique. “At the Graves” was already an extremely complex and progressive track before Pagan’s Mind got their skilled sound mason hands on it, but what is on here is actually more impressive and even more otherworldly. You can’t really put into words all of the devices at work; you just have to hear it for yourself.

I can’t really recommend any Pagan’s Mind album over another one because they all have their unique articulation of power/prog. perfection within their dozen or so tracks. This is the least prog. oriented of their releases, so it might appeal to fans of Helloween more than their later material, but any fan of power metal should be able to enjoy everything that this band has put out. If you get this on CD, make sure it’s the 2004 re-recording, the quality is much better and Jorn Lofstad is a superior guitarist.