Wow, wow, and wow! Pagan’s Mind caught me completely by surprise. I had read one negative review of Celestial Entrance so I put these guys off for a while, but then I started hearing from many people what a brilliant release this was, so I thought what the hell, and then decided to give it a shot. And here we are. After two weeks straight of listening to this CD over and over again all I can say is brilliant.

Pagan’s Mind combines the best elements of the heavier side of Dream Theater, early Queensryche, and Symphony X. So not only do they have a touch of each of those Prog masters in their sound, but they add their own feel and elements into the music as well. The guitars are very heavy here at times, kind of like Symphony X but a little dirtier. The guitars are still very melodic though and there are plenty of leads and quite a few softer breaks and quiet sections. While some riffs are mid-paced there are plenty of faster sections here too; just listen to Dreamscape Lucidity, which has plenty of double bass, as many other songs do. So the band varies very nicely between mid-paced and quiet sections, to very aggressive and fast sections (for a prog band). Further adding to the aggressiveness are semi-gruff vocals as seen on …Of Epic Questions for example, which work amazing well. The regular vocal style employed by Nils K. Rue is melodic, powerful, and emotional… just the way it should be in a prog band. As a reference he resembles D.C. Cooper at times, which is a good thing. As a bonus the lyrics are well-written as well; most topics take on a fantasy or Mythological setting. Going along with the amazing vocals are amazing keyboards. The keys add so many layers and textures that I think they even out do Dream Theater at times. But don’t worry, this is not keyboard driven prog, as the guitars are very upfront and the riffage and melodic underlying guitar parts are the main focus here. While the drumming from Stian Lindaas Kristoffersen isn’t quite as technical as what Mike Portnoy does, it still gets the job done and then some. Rhythm heavy patterns and plenty of aggressive bass drum runs are played with precision, and that’s all you can ask for; and backing Kristoffersen is Steinar Krokmo on bass who also does an admirable job.

Practically all the songs on Celestial Entrance go over the 6-minute mark. However, they never feel that long, since each individual section of the songs are of the highest grade and the band changes up the tempo and mood just enough to always make the songs interesting and leave you begging for more… but at the same time not getting overly complicated or self indulged. One minute you’ll be riding through surreal and hypnotic soundscapes, and the next minute you’ll be pummeled over the head with double bass and heavy riffs; and unlike Dream Theater the more rock-oriented sections are not present at all, this is pure Metal from beginning to end!

Songs like Aegean Shores and Dimensions Of Fire are so multi-faceted in their delivery yet still manage to remain memorable and catchy just after the first listen. In fact, all songs do this but those are two of my favorite; even the two instrumentals (which I generally don’t like) are very well done. In Brilliant White Light is the only ballad type song on here but it only lasts just under 3 minutes and even though it’s not as exciting as the other tracks, it showcases the excellent vocal range of Rue and the piano work of Ronny Tegner. So all is good in that department.

I suppose this is one of those releases that is so good, that it’s very hard to describe the music and sound accurately. I could go on and on forever with a track-by-track description but I won’t. I can say, however, that if I could go back and redo my top 15 list of 2002 this would be top 10 without a doubt, but alas, I heard it a little too late for that. Unless you don’t like Power/Prog Metal I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t like this, it really is a masterpiece of technical prowess, song writing ability, and moody atmospheres. I have feeling though that it won’t get the credit it deserves as non-prog fans will get there hands on it and undeservedly bash it, but that’s what differences of opinions are for. Thus, I can only tell you my opinion, and that opinion is that Pagan’s Mind is one of the best up and coming prog bands of the last 5 years.