{"id":3122,"date":"2018-08-18T20:23:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T20:23:19","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-01-24T19:38:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T19:38:47","slug":"images-of-eden-soulrise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/18\/images-of-eden-soulrise\/","title":{"rendered":"IMAGES OF EDEN: Soulrise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Powerful, Life-Changing Metal \u2013 Let Your Soul Rise!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In a world of negativity, where we are constantly bombarded with anger, fear, hatred, resentment, contempt, violence, injustice and ultimately disillusionment and hopelessness \u2013 reflected, by the way, in and reinforced by much of today\u2019s music \u2013 Images Of Eden is a ray of hope and light. Formed in 1998 by vocalist\/songwriter\/guitarist Gordon Tittsworth (York, PA), this power\/progressive outfit \u2013 a hybrid of classic metal and newer metal \u2013 is alive and vibrant on Soulrise<\/span>, their 4th studio release. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite quite a few line-up changes over the past 2 decades \u2013 and a long hiatus since 2011\u2019s Rebuilding The Ruins<\/span> \u2013 IOE have released their best-sounding, most original and most spiritually uplifting album to date. Rarely do I reference content from a band\u2019s website in a review, but the description below pretty much says it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Images of Eden is a fearless concept band that brings together familiar, well-loved elements of metal and rock combined with their own unique vision, message and delivery. The result is a distinct musical hybrid that speaks directly to the struggles and tribulations of the listener.”<\/span> \u2013 <\/span><\/span>imagesofeden.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I have to say, where in the past I thought these guys sounded like Queensryche, Dream Theater and Shadow Gallery, I feel that with the current line-up they have really developed their own style and sound. New multi-faceted drummer\/producer Steve Dorssom has a more classic power metal groove compared to former drummer Chris Lucci (who had a more progressive style). Dorssom\u2019s style, combined with new bassist Eric Mulvaine\u2019s thunder, lends a much more driving and powerful rhythm\/vibe to the Images Of Eden sound. Dean Harris (who joined the band prior to the last release) returns on keys\/piano, and Mexico\u2019s Carlos Urquidi Perez has taken over the lead guitars from Dennis Mullin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with Gordon\u2019s unorthodox singing style and slightly down-tuned, but crunchy rhythm guitars, Images Of Eden somewhat defies comparison. Soulrise<\/span> was produced by the band but mixed and mastered by the venerable Bill Metoyer (skullseven.com<\/a>), so yes, this really is the best I\u2019ve heard this band so far in terms of the mix and production quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI know I cannot change the world, but I can change the way I live today. I never want to forget where I came from\u201d<\/span><\/span> \u2013 \u201cOnly Human\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the unique aspects about Soulrise<\/span> would have to be the lyrical approach. Where some bands may incorporate Scripture references or paraphrases directly into the songs (Sardonyx \u2013 Sons Of The Kingdom<\/a> a great example), rarely do you find the kind of \u201creal-life\u201d dialogue going on between an individual (could be me or you) and God. And this ongoing \u201cconversation\u201d stretches throughout the entire 65 minute duration! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, not only is God constantly engaged with the human in these songs, but God also has the most to say and takes up more than half of the words. This might not be readily apparent without the lyric insert where the human\u2019s words are in white text and God\u2019s are in yellow. \u00a0In fact, when I first listened through this without lyrics I could tell there was some dialogue going on, but didn\u2019t realize the profound extent of the conversation until I had lyrics in hand because of the way Gordon does his vocal phrasings and inflections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, he doesn\u2019t always alter his voice or the melody in a way that cues the listener to a switch in the speaker. So my only criticism would be that it would have been cool to have more of a change of inflection or singing style or phrasing to cue the listener as to the change in \u201cvoice.\u201d Fortunately, most of the time, the actual content of the words help us know who is \u201cspeaking\u201d at any given moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cRise above deception\/With the words I have given you\/For I am losing my Creation\/Show the world my love\/For they only divide and hate.\u201d<\/span><\/span> \u2013 \u201cGodless\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On many levels, this is a wonderful and refreshing approach to lyric-writing. First, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever experienced an album which gave this much lyric time to God\u2019s voice! Second, the human\u2019s struggles in these songs are ones to which all of us can relate \u2013 real life doubts, pain and suffering and tragedies. Third, instead of a \u201cpreacher\u201d or \u201ctherapist\u201d telling us how to heal ourselves, we have God telling us His solution for our situation. Fourth, these songs show God in a different light than our world often reflects Him. His exhortation is not condemning or judgmental (as is often the case with man\u2019s exhortation for fellow man), but rather full of encouragement and unconditional love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, I love how the Father doesn\u2019t sugar coat the situation (\u201cLet Me Die Young\u201d<\/span>), but yet empathizes with the sufferer (\u201cOnly Human\u201d<\/span>), always challenging the human to have faith (\u201cOnce We Believed\u201d<\/span>), yet always protecting\/providing (\u201cShield Me\u201d<\/span>) and offering hope that this life is not the end (\u201cTwice Upon A Time\u201d<\/span>). This is wonderful stuff, all within the scope of what we all experience (or desire to experience) every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cSelf-destruction and apathy will never mend your wounds\/But I can only help you now\u201d \u2013 <\/span><\/span>\u201cAll Is Now Forgiven\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The natural question which follows, then, is how are these wonderful lyrical outpourings conveyed in and augmented by the music in a way which remains credible and sincere? For one, by shortening the songs and cutting out much of the musical indulgence inherent to the prog\/power genre. I felt that one of the weaknesses of Rebuilding The Ruins<\/span> was there was too much going on and therefore songs didn\u2019t stand as well on their own, nor did they have a distinct quality \u2013 it all tended to blend. Not so here, as each of these songs stands alone despite the fact that this is a concept album. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The net effect, though, of the shorter songs is that it keeps you focused on the lyrics, and Gordon\u2019s vocal clarity further solidifies the impact of the words as well. To their credit, although there are a few spoken Tate-like sections, the narrative is kept to a minimum, so throughout its 65 minutes Soulrise <\/span>(despite the thick concentration of lyrics) retains a balanced ebb and flow of heavy riffs, well-placed and well-executed guitar solos, fist-pumping rhythms and interspersed keys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first 4 tracks are heavy, mid-tempo metal \u2013 the highlight of those probably \u201cShield Me,\u201d<\/span> especially because of the heavy and dynamic guitars on this song and the great vocal chorus section. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things slow down for the first time with the lovely \u201cMoonrise,\u201d<\/span> which not only features some great vocal melodies as well, but plenty of piano, acoustic guitar and dynamic contrast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is followed by \u201cGodless,\u201d<\/span> one of the heaviest songs on the album (and more modern metal influenced) and one of the most profound songs lyrically. Dorssom gets to let loose here with a faster pace and some nice tom work the ride out guitar solo scorches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce We Believed\u201d<\/span> is one of my favorite songs and definitely a reference to Queensryche is due at this point. I just love the flow of this song and the lyrics all with that piano underlying the melodic vocal outpouring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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