Lost in Time: Shadow Gallery – Room V

Style: prog metal, prog rock, power/prog (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Symphony X, Threshold, Fates Warning, Queensrÿche
Review by: Andy
Country: US-PA
Release date: June 7, 2005

From the debut through Legacy, Shadow Gallery were signed with Magna Carta Records, but Room V brings one of the biggest changes to the band’s career with a switch to InsideOut Music. As a result, Room V has slicker production and a more streamlined sound, though still with the band’s uniquely recognizable sound. What’s more is that as evident within just a minute of opener “Manhunt”–which features a melodic reprisal of “Christmas Day” in the piano–Room V is a direct sequel to my favorite Shadow Gallery album, Tyranny. So will Shadow Gallery fall into the timeless hole of the sequel being inferior, or can they possibly use their new label and sound as an impetus to equal–or potentially even surpass–their previous magnum opus? 

Room V starts with banger after banger: “Comfort Me,” a metallic duet between Mike Baker and Laura Jaeger, precedes the gruff heavy metal of “The Andromeda Strain,” which leads into the Dream Theater-like and emotionally humongous track, “Vow.” Throughout the super strong front third, the old dog Shadow Gallery also tries some new tricks to great effect–the grand pause preceding the uber-melodic guitar solo with callbacks to Tyranny in “Comfort Me” sends shivers down my spine and the vocal layering in all the choruses sounds like Blind Guardian on A Night at the Opera, as indulgent as it is mellifluous. “Vow,” however, gets dangerously close to Dream Theater. At 2:00, the progression is almost note for note that of “Misunderstood,” and the guitar tone in the solo is the same decadent “chocolate cake” tone of John Petrucci. But the song is so emotionally resonant and beautifully crafted that these similarities are easy to overlook. 

Unfortunately, in the next third of Room V, Shadow Gallery largely forget they have one of the greatest prog metal singers ever, eschewing vocals except for during the brief, heart-wrenching track “Lamentia” and the overall boring “Torn.” This poor pacing is especially egregious considering the pretty stuffed full CD length of the album–seventy-six minutes. While the band’s talent remains throughout the consecutive shred instrumentals, a one-minute lament, another instrumental, and an annoying synth track, the section remains a slog to get through more than anything. They enlist the help of Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon) to provide lead guitars on “Seven Years,” and his tone is a standout across this whole stretch, but I wish Shadow Gallery would have given him a full song to improve like James LaBrie got on “I Believe” rather than essentially a third straight instrumental track–I won’t bother counting the brief “Lamentia.”

Thankfully, Shadow Gallery bring the high quality back for the final four prog metal tracks to close out the Tyranny/Room V concept, reaching close to the dizzying heights of swaths of the band’s earlier material. “The Archer of Ben Salem” is positively raucous, Mike Baker adding some grit to his singing previously unheard while a plodding bass carries forward a typically engaging Shadow Gallery guitar part. These final tracks also vibrantly declare the end of the epic concept: “The Archer of Ben Salem” has a line about the “new world order,” “Encrypted” casually drops the word “tyranny,” and “Rain” references “Alaskan forests.” The only major fault with this ending sequence for me is how much of a pain they can be to get to since they follow so many tracks of uninteresting material. “Encrypted” through “Room V” can become somewhat of a blur–no fault of their own merit. 

Shadow Gallery did not match or surpass Tyranny on a sequel, even backed by a new label which arguably crispened the production (though I would claim that Room V sounds more homogeneously standard “prog metal” than earlier Shadow Gallery, sacrificing charm for a  technically clearer sound). Moreover, the pacing is Shadow Gallery’s worst except for the isolated track “Ghostship.” Room V demonstrates a scary sign of decline in Shadow Gallery’s creativity, but does this trend signal further impending decline, or can Shadow Gallery pull back from the brink?

Recommended tracks: Comfort Me, Vow, The Archer of Ben Sale
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page

Label: InsideOut Music – Website | Facebook

Shadow Gallery is:
– Mike Baker (lead vocals, R.I.P. 2008)
– Carl Cadden-James (bass, fretless bass, flute, backing vocals)
– Gary Wehrkamp (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals)
– Chris Ingles (keyboards)
– Brendt Allman (guitars, backing vocals)
– Joe Nevolo (drums)