Awakening the World

Although it is important to note that Wojtek Lisicki does not like the concept of religion, the nature of this album is pretty much open to biblical analogy, at least in terms of it's scope. There are two themes at work in this band that are immediately obvious before the album is 1/3 of the way over, and they are excellence and individuality, one being observed in the music and the other in the lyrics.

Before I delve into the particulars about the content of the album, I think it is neccesary for me to make a defense of the band's image and overall concept. Essentially the image that Lost Horizon portrays is that of a group of Viking warriors, complete with war paints and in the case of frontman Dan Heiman, a druid's cloak to emphasize his role as the band's spiritual leader (though Wojtek writes the lion's share of the songs). All of this is heavily symbolic of the concept of the band, which is the idea of a fully honest and unapologetic love of individual liberty. I dare say that it is highly likely that Horizon's detractors are probably carrying some latent collectivist baggage in their personal philosophies, despite whatever denials they try to mask it with.

In keeping with the band's concept, each stage/character name is geared towards the purpose of bringing out their function in this larger than life experiment in metal storytelling. The names are highly intellectual, and obviously come off as corny to casual observers of sci-fi flicks such as Star Trek who heard something similar on an episode in weeks past. However, this is done for purely intellectual reasons, and consequently I wouldn't be surprised if Wojtek and his bandmates laugh themselves silly if they ever read some of the rather pathetic attempts to poke fun at what is clearly an image put forth for entertainment purposes. A word of advice to those of you whom insist on labeling this album as "Awaken the Cheese", shut up and listen, you may just learn something.

We have some musical genius at work here, not only in terms of songwriting, but in overall musicianship. Martin Furängen's basswork is comparable to the likes of Joey Demaio and Steve Harris, whose refusal to simply play support roles in the music of their various bands helped pave the way for the bass to become an essential lead instrument in the metal format. Excellent examples of Martin's virtuosity can be observed on his walking lines in "Welcome Back", as well as his high speed finger style on "Sworn in the Metal Wind".

Christian Nyqvist's drum work is right up there with speed pounders like Clive Burr and Dan Zimmerman, making one hell of a racket on such tracks as "Heart of Storm" and "World through my fateless eyes". Wojtek's guitar sound is a bit on the crunchy side, and loaded with digital delay, however his lead work is a bit more auspicious. Stand out lead lines are to be found in "Sworn in the Metal Wind", "Welcome Back" and "The Kingdom of my will".

But the star of this 4 man show is clearly Dan Heiman, who's high thunderous vocals bring out the Highlander spirit that dominates this album. Some of the notes he hits on various tracks are enough to make Rob Halford wince. Although his voice is much higher, the spirit of Dan's voice is not all that different from that of Freddy Mercury, who had an equally strong sense of passion and drama that made his voice the dominate instrument of Queen's ensemble. The most amazing vocal performance on here clearly goes to "Kingdom of my will", although "Perfect Warrior" and "Sworn in the Metal Wind" give it a run for it's money.

The lyrics of this release are classic, unadulterated, Ayn Rand style egoism. I stress the Ayn Rand variety rather than the Nietzschean variety for one very obvious reason, the music is heavily geared towards the Aristotelian ideal of displaying the "ought" associated with the arts, rather than mindless passion and witless ramblings. This is further elaborated in the lyrics, which condemn all forms of irrational conformity that continue to plaque mankind. Most people scoff at the idea of finding something meaningful in the arts because of a closet form of cynicism that thinks such things are both useless and hopeless, not knowing that this cynicism is essentially the self-fulfilling prophecy that makes this the case. Although I am a Thomistic Catholic, I've always had a love for the concept of Liberty as espoused by the Enlightenment philosophers of Europe who were heavily influenced by the pagan geniuses of Ancient Greece, who in turn influenced Ayn Rand, and probably also Wojtek.

In conclusion, this is essential metal listening for all fans of traditional and power metal. These guys are one of the most musically and intellectually significant bands to hit the metal scene since the rebirth of traditional metal in the mid to late 90s. It has not yet left my CD player, and I highly recommend it to all.