Become

When I first heard about Seventh Wonder I had to run a quick check through my music database and see whether I have listened to them before (can’t really blame me with all those ‘Seventh’ bands out there, Seventh One, Seventh Sign or Seventh Son being just the ones that come on a fast reminder). You know me, I’m always looking for new bands to take a shot at glory, so I was very happy founding out that this was a new band with a debut album; hailing from Stockholm, I was expecting either an In Flames type of melodeath or an Hammerfall kinda fast metal (what can I say, old habits die hard and so do preconceived ideas).

Right from the get go (meaning Day By Day opening song) I saw how mistaken I was so I stripped of all references and focused my full attention to these fine musicians. Definitely the backbone of the music is progressive metal, with hints of classic or neo-classic ideas in the vein of Symphony X, power traces a la Masterplan or Nocturnal Rites and even some German traces in the vein of Lanfear or Black Destiny.

With songs ranging from 4 to 9 minutes, the whole alum sounds very tight, with main focus on composition and melody – don’t get me wrong, the musical phrasing is complex and heavy, guitar and keyboard solos are excellent, showing a very wide technical range, but the band never loses its focus, choosing to keep a perfect flow throughout the songs, rather than branching out into endless technical you-need-to-be-a-musical-prodigy-to-understand-or-follow-this bedlam. Main credit to the smooth flow of the songs goes to the rhythm section of the band, bass player Andreas Blomqvist (terrific bass solo/lines opening on the most complex and the longest song of the album In The Blink Of An Eye or the bass solo on the slow mid section of What I’ve Become) and drummer Johnny Sandin. The pair has a perfect collaboration, with tight and even adventurous drumming, an uncanny ability to shift the pace of the song almost on subliminal level with incredible delicate bridges beautifully supported by the background keyboard lines (Andreas Söderin guilty as charged). Speaking of Andreas Söderin, his keyboard style is somewhat similar to Vanden Plas’s Günter Werno, with great technical skills, but always focusing on the music, sometimes with a surround sound, other times right up front, leading the rhythm (Temple In The Storm) or – my favorite part – on duet with Johan Liefvendhal (lead guitarist) representing one of the absolute highlights of the album. Songs like The Secret or The Damned display excellent guitars/keyboards double riffs shifting into swapping solos following the same basic line; while the up-tempo Blinding My Eyes is led by fast guitar licks with beautiful keyboard solos. Excellent extended instrumental part on the one of the best song on the album Like Him where Johan Liefvendhal shows his petruccian style of attacking riffs and fast complex solos.

Andy Kravljaca is a Goran Edman type of vocalist (so sad to hear that in the meantime he has quit the band), with clear and open voice, showing a great range of emotions, hitting the high notes effortlessly, sounding as good in the high range as in the ‘normal’ range, feeling perfectly comfortable in the thin air, adding depth and emotion to the music. Excellent musicianship between the five artists, sounding (and probably feeling) very comfortable with each other, working together as a band to create a truly excellent progressive metal album.

What more can I add? Maybe only this: with bands like Seventh Wonder, the future of the progressive genre is secure. Can’t wait to listen to their sophomore effort coming out this year. Sincere congratulations to this young and promising band. A must have for fans!