Style: Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Power Metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Symphony X, Evergrey, Kamelot
Country: Sweden
Release date: 23 August 2024
I was around the online prog metal servers when Paralydium’s debut LP, Worlds Beyond, was released. It was a big deal. The hungry Symphony X fans clambered to each subsequent single, each impacting harder than the last; the complete album, no less, was a huge success. Worlds Beyond structured its composition around candidly written singles which highlighted the band’s uncommon ability to write a large number of quality earworms in a manner that is partial to the technical and aggressive virtues of metal; this made standing behind the album a seamless act for fans of prog and power metal alike. The band truly set a difficult bar to top.
I aim to investigate what made Paralydium’s follow-up album, Universe Calls, a relative disappointment to people who were/are sincere fans of the band. Does this common feeling of disappointment have reasonable merit, or are people letting their unregulated expectations take hold of their enjoyment of an otherwise fine album?
One of the most immediate differences one will notice upon first encountering Universe Calls is that the previous vocalist, Mikael Sehlin, was exchanged with the new Alexander Lycke. One could argue that nothing is inherently wrong with a vocalist change – especially considering some of the greatest prog metal bands were born out of an early vocalist swap. However, a positive impact of a member swap should either imply that the new member harmonizes better with the rest of the members or is significantly more skilled in his own right. Unfortunately, neither is true in this case.
Elaborating further, it seems like the melodies of the vocal hooks themselves are not fleshed out in the writing and revision process as thoroughly as in their debut album. One egregious example of this is in the awful track, “Forging the Past,” which has this section just after the two-minute mark where Lycke sounds like he’s reading sentences with an annoyingly artificial bounciness to them emphasizing every syllable with no build or flow—of course, because it’s prog, accompanied by syncopated chords from the guitar and rhythm section. There is no melody in this section, and this is what a lot of Universe Calls sounds like. Many reviewers have claimed that Lycke has no passion in his voice, and I feel this accusation is a bit hard on the man; however, he has a slight audible stiffness that most other successful power metal singers/frontmen/dragonslayers/intergalactic wizard police chiefs/body oil industry affiliates don’t have a problem with.
An even more confusing aspect of the follow-up album is the change in riff style. Previously, Paralydium utilized metal riffs (usually influenced by neoclassical and traditional prog metal), front and clear in the mix, that backed the singer’s lyrical delivery. This aligned the band more with what a real Symphony X revival band should sound like rather than a new-school power metal fusion with modern prog metal. In Universe Calls, the lead guitar riffs are mostly buried in the mix and act a lot more as a chuggy instrument to compliment the rhythm section as Lycke sings to us. Loose chords very often fill the backdrop to create an anthemic feel to Lycke’s choruses. It’s possible that Universe Calls actually aims to replicate the more recent Symphony X era which would explain the change in guitar work. For example, the track “Caught in a Dream” most immediately reminds me of the song “Iconoclast” while having parts from the album Underworld.
I may just be fed up with the vocalist because my favorite parts of the album are where the instrumentalists take the lead. The symphonic elements throughout the album are done quite successfully, and all of the solos on the album show that the instrumentalists have considerable talent. As crazy as it is going to sound, my favorite track on the album is the modestly named “Interlude.” It’s such a simple, cohesive, and beautiful piece that shows me that these are people who really know what they are doing. The way the acoustic riff builds up with soft, caressing keyboards and embellishes with fluttering strings makes me forget my anxieties for a brief moment in time.
Power metal vocalists have the most important part in the band by a long shot, and I do rightfully expect more from the follow-up album of a band that is capable of excellent work. I certainly do not think Alexander Lycke is awful at what he does but there is certainly a lot of room for improvement. That being said, some may not resonate with my criticism here and the band’s changes in approach could be part of what makes this album flawed but unique. However, in my free time, the universe usually calls me to more polished albums.
Recommended tracks: Interlude, The Arcane Exploration
You may also like: Teramaze, Avandra, Whom Gods Destroy, Darkwater, Lalu
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Frontiers Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Official Website
Paralydium is:
– Alexander Lycke (vocals)
– John Berg (guitars, keyboards, orchestration)
– Jonathan Olsson (bass)
– Georg Egg (drums)
– Mike Blanc (keyboards)
