Harpazo: The Crucible

Harpazo: The Crucible

Concept albums and heavy metal are often symbiotic in their execution. Whether it be the speed and orchestration of power metal like Helloween’s Keeper of the Seven Keys, the symphonic bombast of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s The Christmas Attic, or the progressive complexity of Dream Theater’s Scenes from a Memory, concept albums are among the most revered and vaunted records in the history of the genre. They can tell a story relying on the music to swing the listener’s emotions from haunting acoustics to angry thrash. Concept albums are often a labor of love from the artist, requiring more than writing and recording a collection of songs. These albums often boast a cast of characters with stories ranging from The Wall’s dissociated Pink, to the murderous Dr. X of Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime. Production can be as challenging as staging an opera with multiple vocalists, musicians and often visual elements for stage shows and/or music videos. Concept albums are a difficult beast to master. For every Operation Mindcrime, there is an Operation Mindcrime II. For every Scenes from a Memory, there is an Astonishing. And in the Christian metal realm, concept albums are few, and excellent examples are rare. Thankfully, The Crucible by Harpazo is one of those excellent examples.

Harpazo is a project band consisting of lyricist and guitarist Marc Centanni and multi-instrumentalist Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery, Ayreon). These two have created and crafted a rock opera staging the events of Revelation in a science-fiction future. They have surrounded themselves with some of the best vocalists and musicians recording today to produce a dynamic and sophisticated progressive metal masterpiece.

On this one album, Harpazo has managed to wrangle the following vocalists: DC Cooper (Royal Hunt), Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery), Lee Lemperle (Outside the Wall), Jennifer Eckhartt (Jennifer K Eckhart & the Stained Glass Road), Rey Parra (Sacred Warrior, Deny the Fallen, Worldview, Recon), Christian Liljegren (Narnia, Golden Resurrection, Audiovision), Les Carlsen (Bloodgood), and Michael Drive (Barren Cross, Human Code). Gary Wehrkamp plays most of the instrumentals with Marc Centanni adding some guitar, keys and drums. Many other guest musicians also contribute to the sonic tapestry with recording taking place all over the globe, from Italy to Sweden to Brazil to Germany and finally to many locations across the United States. Gary Wehrkamp also acted as producer, mixing artist, and engineer.

I will not give away the storyline of this album as the discovery of the characters and what they go through adds a great deal to the first listening experience. It involves nano-technology, cybernetics, natural disasters, revolutionary rebellion, spiritual examination, and a healthy dose of the apocalypse. The story, much like the recording of the album, winds all over the globe, following the cast of characters as they deal with tumultuous times and world-changing events.

Musically, this album is heavy, both thematically and musically, with dynamically quiet passages and crunchy, overdriven pieces. The instrumentation is top notch, holding its own with bands such as Queensryche and the mighty Dream Theater. Production is excellent, with vocals way up front and always easy to understand and differentiate between the different characters.

My first reaction to this record was, “This is The Astonishing done right.” Where The Astonishing is over-long and indulgent, everything on The Crucible serves the songs and the story. The instrumentals mirror the conflict and emotions of the characters without overstaying their welcome. The songs are mostly epic in nature with the longest clocking in at just over ten minutes. The lead single, I Am God, is one of the shortest at a more mainstream three minutes and fifty seconds.

If you are a fan of concept records like the ones mentioned above, get this record. You will only be impressed. This is Christian metal’s Les Miserables.

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