RockBox - Pantommind - 2005

Pantommind - 2005 - Shade Of Fate

Progressive metal from Bulgaria, debut full-length album released in 2005. Originally, the band was called "Lavender Haze" until they changed their name to Pantommind in 1995.

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Sometime in the distant 1993, in a small town in the heart of Bulgaria, a few friends gather up to play their favorite music. These are Pete Christ, “Floyd” Rossen, Jiip Randam and Lambie. They call themselves with the strange name “LAVENDER HAZE”, while their music protrudes influences of Queensryche and shows affinity towards different electronic motives and complex compositions.

Two years later, the band is finally completed with the joining of the emblematic vocalist Tony Ivan, and drummer Drago. 1995 marks the change of the band’s name to “PANTOMMIND”, as well as their first studio recording - the song called “Every Dream is a Game”. Another year passes in recording of new material, and in 1996 the demo EP “Unreality” becomes fact. It includes 4 songs: “Dream From”, ”Unreality”, ”Somewhere In The Space”,”Let Bygones By Bygones”. In the period 1997 – 1999, PANTOMMIND’s members Tony Ivan (vocals), “Floyd” Rossen (guitars), Pete Christ (guitars, keyboards), Drago (drums), Dean “The Boss” (bass) record another, this time full-length demo “FAREWELL” in the home studio of Jiip Randam. With the support and help from Carlos Vaz , the demo album rises an incredible interest toward the band in worldwide underground circles.

At the turn of the new Millenium, the bass-player Dean leaves PANTOMMIND due to family reasons, and is replaced with Dido (who had been playing with them in their earliest period). The band survives two hard years of unsuccessful attempts for “breakthrough”, followed by a new creative period.

In the spring of 2003, the keyboardist SunnyX joins PANTOMMIND, together with guitarist Peter Vichew, who replaces “Floyd” Rossen. In this refreshed team, the band creates some of its best songs to date, setting the beginning of the project “Shade of Fate”. The album is recorded for one year, followed by active promoting of demos overseas, successfully finalized in the end of 2004,when the band signs a licensed contract with “Lucretia Records” to release in Europe, and with “Sensory Records USA” for North America. “Shade of Fate” receives flattering reviews in specialized press and a strong rotation on the air of many popular metal radio stations around the world. The leading booking agency INTROMENTAL Management - Denmark takes the band under its wing, while the Director Claus Jensen categorizing “Shade of Fate” as one of the top progressive metal albums for all of 2005 worldwide.

Two unforgettable years follow, during which PANTOMMIND play several big and memorable concerts, the most significant being with Fates Warning (February 2005) and with Helloween (January 2006). In the same period the band is invited to perform at the most prestigious festival for progressive metal music – PROGPOWER Europe in Holland.

At the end of 2006, encouraged by the success of their debut album, PANTOMMIND start immediate work on new material for their following record ,and this record’s name is ...

..."LUNASENSE"!

Pantommind Official Website

Pantommind At MySpace

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Even though they've just released their international debut album, Pantommind are no newcomers. They have been around for over ten years, but coming from Bulgaria where playing progressive metal isn't the most popular thing, they've only released two albums so far: Farewell (1999) which was basically a demo they put out in their homeland, and now Shade of Fate released on Sensory Records, one of the most supportive prog labels in the world.

After about five or six listens, I was quite pleased by the band's professionalism that has reflected on their brilliant songwriting, impressive musicianship and unconventional production work. I highly suggest listening to this album with a set of good headphones; otherwise it may come across rather average. In this aspect, Shade of Fate eerily takes me back to Divine Regale's Ocean Mind album whose extremely claustrophobic production makes it hard to get into right away. Pantommind's music has that kind of vibe as well. They create dark soundscapes relying on fantastic keyboards that provide the backdrop of their songs. Keyboardist Sunny X gives the band a very European prog vibe we've come to expect from bands like Sun Caged and Vanden Plas; but also, he loves to experiment with dark harmonic structures found on later period Fates Warning albums and the psychedelic side of Psychotic Waltz. It came as a no surprise when I read in the booklet that both Psychotic Waltz and Fates Warning are mentioned as influences of the band along with others including Savatage, Dream Theater and Crimson Glory. Guitarists Pete Christ and Peter Vichew's playing also displays a secret love for Psychotic Waltz guitarist Dan Rock's work on his Darkstar project. Note the instrumental breakdown of the 7-minute epic track "The Final Line" where layers of atmospheric keys embrace a killer lead and acoustic solo respectively. Likewise, "Why" features a fantastic mid-section that is inherently graced by Psychotic Waltz atmospherics from their last disc.

Vocalist Tony Ivan possesses an excellent range with a delivery that encompasses Roy Khan's most emotive moments on the Conception albums. His accent is hardly noticeable; I'd never have guessed he's from Bulgaria to be honest. Ivan has the ability to adapt to every song with a different vocal approach going from the deep, crystal clean singing on the title track to Ray Alder's most melodic style on "Knocking on My Door" which wouldn't seem out of place on Fates Warning's Parallels album, or the unsettlingly beautiful "Closer to You", a song which starts with minimalist keyboard sequencing and dark vocals evocative of the Divine Regale singer. Needless to say, Tony Ivan is an incredibly talented frontman and a much welcome addition to prog metal.

The music overall is very balanced. It's not the heaviest thing you'll ever hear, but there is so much crunch-filled guitar work that contrasts the almost fragile keyboards, you will be soaked in their music immediately. Drummer Drago's playing is a less intricate Mark Zonder with passionate polyrhythms and fierce double bass drum on "Follow Me" - his tone is intentionally dry sounding and matches the dark overall tone of the album. There are two instrumental tracks on the disc: "Spectastral" and "Mindtrip". "Spectastral" begins with excellent keys and guitar/drum attack giving way to a killer bass throb which leaves me looking for more. I wish the album was a tad more bass friendly - I know they could do it since one of the bonus tracks, "Virtual Ghost", lets Dido steal the show. The other instrumental piece is more varied. Thick walls of atmosphere permeate the song without losing track of melody and add dark textures to the songcraft. The production is very well done - it offers depth and clarity, and never takes away from the organic sound of Pantommind. A very successful disc - very highly recommended.

This is a special gift to Gothicspell, one of our true fellow members from USA!

Progressive

Vbr

86.42 MB

11 files

01/05/2009

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19/04/2020 20:37:17