Seventh Crystal – ‘Entity’

(Frontiers Records)

The third album from Prog Metal Swede’s Seventh Crystal entitled ‘Entity’ is billed as a concept album but I feel it’s only that in a very loose sense. Concept album’s usually have me screaming manically towards the hills, but with this album I think it’s more about lyrical inspiration and the messages within these songs having a connection. So, brace yourself for some thought-provoking lyrics dealing with technology and its misuses in everyday modern life. Which you might find more relatable than you realise.

I like Seventh Crystal and I’ve appreciated what they’ve released in the past but I really would only class myself as a fair-weather fan. Listening through ‘Entity’ though I found myself more invested and intrigued than I had been in the past. Obviously given its impact on me it’s easy to say it’s their strongest album to date, so established fans will no doubt adore this one!

‘Entity’ is full of heavy edged Hard Rock with plenty of hooks and a ton of memorable melodies destined to embed themselves into your psyche. It’s really easy to recommend Seventh Crystal to fans of highly melodic Prog Metal acts like Threshold. They also have a lot of cross over appeal given their varied sound and mixed influences – which stretch beyond the Prog genre.

At times they can be really powerful and anthemic, when listening I can envision a sea of fans hand’s raised and voices singing in unison to some of these stadium worthy choruses. They certainly are not a band stuck in the past, they have some strong modern rock and metal influences clearly in their songs, and if you listen intently, you’ll hear a mixed bag of influences from across the modern metal spectrum. What they do to great effect though is mix it all together to create a highly enjoyable and memorable batch of songs.

Vocalist Kristian Fyhr has a soaring, powerful, smooth and melodious voice. I’m a big fan of his and I can’t emphasise enough what a fantastic vocalist he is. His vocal melodies and style are a big selling point for me and really draw me into the band and the atmospherics of their songs.

Outstanding musicianship hits you at every turn, which really screams, why aren’t these guys bothering the mainstream metal fanbase and playing the main stage at Download? The certainly deserve to hit bigger stages and reach larger audiences!

8/10

Essential Track - 'Thirteen To One'

Review By Woody