The Meaning Of I [CD]

It wasn't all that long ago that the term "progressive metal" essentially meant "bands that sound like Dream Theater." In recent years, however, a variety of innovative bands have taken the progressive metal genre and, well...progressed. As a result you have truly progressive bands branching out in all sorts of interesting directions, from metalcore (Between the Buried and Me) to djent (Tesseract) to black metal (Ihsahn) and beyond. And then there's Australian band Voyager, who sounds like...no one else, really, and have managed to incorporate elements of gothic metal and dark ambient music into their highly melodic brand of progressive metal. Over the course of three albums, Voyager has continued to evolve and perfect their unique sound, and is now poised to break through with The Meaning of I, their first album for the Sensory label.

As with their 2007 album Univers, The Meaning of I grabs the listener immediately with its utterly captivating melodies and entirely unpredictable progressions. Honestly, it takes all of 30 seconds of opening song "Momentary Relapse" for you to throw off any expectations and happily see where Voyager takes you. In large part, The Meaning of I is all about the melodies. Whether it's coming from the guitars, the intricate rhythms, the gothic keyboards or Daniel Estrin's powerful and dramatic vocals, the wealth of lush melodies works together to permanently etch these songs into your head. On your first listen you'll be tapping your fingers. The second time through you'll hum along. The third time through you're ready to sing these songs like they're old favorites. Speaking of old favorites, you'll be reminded of several when listening to this album. There are elements of Evergrey, Vanden Plas and yes Dream Theater, though more often than not Voyager seems like the (delightfully) warped offspring of Journey and Type O Negative!

It seems pointless to list standout tracks when nearly every song on The Meaning of I is so memorable, but there are a few that deserve special mention. "Seize the Day" and the title track are great examples of both the band and the album's overall sound, and "Iron Dream (In Memoriam: Peter Steele)" and "She Takes Me (Into the Morning Light)" are two of the most haunting and addictively melodic songs you'll ever hope to hear. There are also a couple of interesting guest appearances on The Meaning of I. D.C. Cooper (Royal Hunt, Silent Force) lends his powerful voice to the song "Fire of Times" and former Tesseract vocalist Daniel Tompkins adds some well-timed growls to great effect on the powerful closer "Are You Shaded?"

We're now officially past the point where Voyager was the best-kept secret in progressive metal. The Meaning of I is simply too powerful a statement to ignore, and deserves to be heard by just about anyone who follows the progressive metal scene. For those fortunate few who are already fans of this band, it's entirely likely that you will now have a new favorite Voyager album.

Upon my first time listening to this I immediately enjoyed it and was simultaneously puzzled by the sounds: thinking that I had picked up a progressive metal CD (yep, fits that category) I heard a lot of sounds (keys and some of the guitars along with the lead's vocals) that reminded me of early 80's New Wave and some of the better guitar moments from early 80's pop bands like Tears For Fears, the Fixx, Big Country and the like. I came away from my initial listening thinking that this CD was like a mash-up of these influences and Dream Theater! After several more listens these influences began to sink into the background, but not entirely. Danny Estrin's vocals are clear and clean and oddly syncopated. I like his voice and it never gets lost in the mix or the music. He sings forcefully and there is a gothic/ doom quality to his register. His use of keys and electronics add a good deal of variety to the sound on this album. This is a guitar album but, like Estrin's vocals, the guitars stand out only in places. You really have to pay attention to them to hear some of the complexity. The guitars are often of the CHUG-CHUG-CHUG-Stop...CHUG-CHUG-CHUG-stop...variety and that's what's easy to hear on first listen but they are much more present than that. The drumming Mark Boeijen is thick and heavy and lends to the overall heaviness of this CD (think a less intense and more rhythmically concerned Mike Portnoy); I really like it for its variance and for it grouding the CD along with Estrin's vocals. Here are some thoughts on the songs:

1) Momentary Relapse of Pain: heavy drums punctuated by quick syncopations puts this disc on the map. Clear, 80's-sounding slightly British vocals make for what you're going to hear a lot of over this disc. The music is heavy but goes down easy. The guitar parts don't come in as overly complex.
2) Stare Into the Night: Danny Estrin's vocal delivery style is both clean and oddly nuanced. Estrin places vocal stresses at some unusual/ unanticipated moments including within the choruses allowing for the vocals on this disc to really stand out.
3) Seize the Day: some meatier guitars are featured on this one but again what strikes the listener are the clarity and unusual vocals of Estrin.
4) Broken: several times over this album I felt that I was falling back into the early 1980s new wave movement and the beginning of this song was one of those points. With heavy and spacey synthesizers "Broken" feels like a melding of late 80's/ early 90's metal with new wave and the punch of current hard rock drumming.
5) The Pensive Disarray (feat. Daniel Tompkins): the heavy but plodding drums and rhythym on this song slows the disc down and makes this stand out, but not necessarily for the better. There's a lot going on in the background of the song and with the percussion. Scott Kay's and Simone Dow's guitars are given their moments. There are many electronic markers and underpinnings on this one that make repeated listenings rewarding but the initial plodding pace of the song kills it from being one of their better tracks IMO.
6) He Will Remain: a lament for a passed friend the vocals take center stage with music bedding the background respectfully.
7) The Meaning of I: a bit of tasteful growling! A hard rocker led by heavy drums and a thick punching bass.
8) Iron Dream (in memoriam: Peter Steele): what have we here? Opening up like a scratched demo tape the song really starts off like a wonderful throwback to the early 1980s with an accessible (not heavy) drum beat, bouncy synths, and some stellar guitars that soar over everything making for a sound that lifts you up and makes you feel like you are in amazying flight! The lyrics, with some latin in there, and the vocals have a touch of gothic majesty and Estrin's singing effervesces on this song which is surprising given the questioning and heavy-sad lyrical content. Standout track.
9) Feuer Meiner Zeit: a very brief little snippent that is sung in German (I think). It maintains its melody to these English ears.
10) Fire of the Times (feat. DC Cooper): this song kicks the dust up again and provides some boot-stomping, melodic heaviness. Great progressive metal track with nice work done on the guitars and a nice guest vocal that pairs well with Estrin's. A fast, hard-hitting song.
11) She Takes Me (Into the Morning Light): a well-blended song with a lot of transitions within and between the instruments and the melodies. Heavy but clear. One of the things that I appreciate about this album is how the production allows certain elements to shine at times in the song and then drops them back into the background. This song is a great example of this and is full of transitions of slow-to-fast, quiet-to-loud.
12) It's Time To Know: while the majority of this song (and this album) is sung in English this song also incorporates another language. At first I thought that this was German again but it's not (Russian perhaps)? As with the former moments of different languages employed the melody is kept intact and remains at the heart of the song. It adds to the interest and diversity that this release posits.
13) Are You Shaded?: the closing song is similar to "She Takes Me" with its variety of transitions and nice heavy moments. There are some growled and/or shouted vocals on this one to go along with the clean and pleasing vocals of Estrin.

I enjoyed this album a great deal and will have some fun letting others listen to it. I'm also going to be curious if they hear the early 80s in any of this. Do you?