Seventh Wonder's 'Tiara' - Album Review

Being a fan of the Swedish progressive metal band Seventh Wonder can be a frustrating business! After a fairly prolific period between 2005 and 2010, which saw the band write and record four studio albums, activity has largely stalled. I started listening to Seventh Wonder in 2011, around the time that frontman Tommy Karevik was touring as an additional singer for Kamelot while the American power metal giants were on the look for a new singer. As we all now know, the following year Karevik took up the position permanently and has been fronting Kamelot ever since. Three albums and countless shows have followed, with the band's most recent album The Shadow Theory (which I reviewed here) being released back in April of this year. All of this activity has been great for Kamelot fans such as myself, and has done wonders for Karevik's exposure and career, but for those of us who also love Seventh Wonder it has been a long wait for something new! The band's last album, 2010's The Great Escape, was released over eight years ago now - and news on any follow up was slow coming. With Karevik's role in Kamelot taking up the vast majority of his time, it is unsurprising that Seventh Wonder have been somewhat dormant however. Along with bassist and songwriter Andreas Blomqvist, Karevik makes up half of the band's main songwriting and concept team. The two always write the lyrics together and come up with the vast majority of the sprawling stories and themes that fill the band's albums, with the rest of the band also chipping in when it comes to the music and the arrangements. A couple of new songs were released by the band a couple of years ago as part of a live DVD/CD package that featured the band playing 2008's Mercy Falls in full, but fans had to wait another two years for a full new album! Mercy Falls is easily my favourite Seventh Wonder album, and in fact is one of my favourite albums of all time, so when it was announced that the band's fifth album, entitled Tiara, would be another concept album I was immediately interested. If the band could pull of something even half as good with Tiara in comparison to Mercy Falls then I would be extremely happy, so when the album dropped through my letterbox last month I was extremely excited. I have now lived with the album for a month or so and, while not quite as good as Mercy Falls, Tiara is an extremely good album which is packed with lots of the band's signature melodic progressive metal sound, soaring vocals from Karevik, and tricky instrumental sections that still brim with memorable motifs. Making progressive metal truly accessible is a hard task, but Seventh Wonder are extremely on the ear - largely due to the slightly poppy vocal melodies. This makes them an excellent entry-level band for the genre, and Tiara would be a fantastic place to start a new love affair!

As with nearly all progressive metal albums, Tiara opens with a symphonic orchestral instrumental piece. It is fairly typical of the genre, although does seem to recall the Star Wars theme music at times! This soon gives way to the big guitar riff of The Everones, the album's first proper song. As you might expect, this a bombastic piece that showcases the whole band's talents early on, with Johan Liefvendahl's juddering guitar riff really hitting home and drummer Stefan Norgren, performing on his first Seventh Wonder album, laying down some excellent double bass drum patterns. The thing about this song that immediately jumped out at me however were the strangely autotuned vocal sections during the verses. Usually I do not like this kind of thing, but I think it works really well and helps to give those portions of the song a 1980s sci-fi feel. Elsewhere, Karevik obviously sounds fantastic. His vocal style with Seventh Wonder is much freer than with Kamelot, so it is great to hear him really spreading his wings once again. This is none more evident than during the choruses, with Andreas Söderin's huge keyboard backing really filling out the sound. In fact it is Söderin that takes the first true solo on the album, with a flurry of synth-heavy notes before Liefvendahl takes over with his more deliberate phrasing. Dream Machines feels a little heavier, but still retains the band's trademark sheen. The mid-paced guitar riff is tougher, and the drumming is altogether more busy with plenty of little flourishes to accent certain parts of the song. That being said, the melodies are still really pushed the fore, with the verses taking things down a notch and really allowing the vocals to shine. The guitars still crunch away behind Karevik, but they are much more muted than the opening workout. The chorus is another winner, with some almost dancey beats that fit in well with Karevik's playful melodies. Many of the songs here have excellent choruses, and this one is no exception. A stand out part of the song for me however is a section part way through that sees Söderin's piano dominate, before Liefvendahl launches into a lengthy guitar solo. Against the Grain opens with a gorgeous classical guitar section, before Liefvendahl once again contributes some soaring guitar leads to a bombastic intro. Being progressive metal there is a lot going on here, with simple piano-led verses and emotionally charged melodic metal choruses. While the whole of Seventh Wonder really pull their weight throughout this album, I feel that special mention should go to Söderin who's soundscapes, orchestrations, and poppy synth leads really help to give this album it's sheen. There is a lot of diverse keyboard work throughout this song, and that is what helps it to stand out. Victorious was the first song to be released from the album, so unsurprisingly it is one of the simpler pieces here. It is very melodically focused, with a pomp-filled chorus and riffs that are somewhat less abrasive than usual. The song still has a bite to it however, with Norgren's drums often punching through the mix to enhance the mood and Söderin lengthy keyboard solo should keep the prog fans happy!

Up next is the three-part Farewell suite, which starts off with Tiara's Song. The song opens up with a big synth riff, which soon gives way to a mid-paced crunching verse which sees both the guitar and bass locking in together for a pulsing rhythm. This somewhat heavier verse is a contrast with the soaring chorus, which contains some of the most overt melodies on the album. Karevik's vocals here are excellent, with the verses sounding more like his moodier Kamelot delivery and the choruses showing his more sing-song soaring style that his fans have been missing over the past few years! I really like how this song mixes heavier and lighter moments together so well. Seventh Wonder are certainly not the heaviest of progressive metal bands, but they can still churn out pretty potent riffs. There are few throughout this song, and they often booked floatier moments which makes them seem much tougher than they actually are! Goodnight is much calmer, although not a true ballad. There is certainly a lot more acoustic instruments here, with acoustic guitars and pianos dominating certain sections of the song - only for Liefvendahl to come in with another big strident riff to keep the energy up. That being said, I feel it is actually the quieter moments of the song that work best. Söderin contributes some excellent piano playing to the song, so it is great getting to hear that relatively unhindered - although a heavier symphonic instrumental section also shines, which soon leads into another lengthy and technical guitar solo. The real highlight of the suite however is Beyond Today, a true ballad that really is packed full of emotional moments. The song is based around some lovely piano playing, but the real star of the show is Karevik who delivers one of the vocal performances of his life in my opinion. The lyrics are really lovely, and the way Karevik sings them ensures that they really stick in my head. In true Seventh Wonder tradition, Karevik's sister Jenny provides some harmony vocals. The two siblings always sing so well together, and this might be their best collaboration yet. I defy anyone to honestly claim that they are not moved by this piece, and in my opinion this is one of the best songs the band have ever written. Staying with the more gentle theme, The Truth has a percussive feel with some strong tom work from Norgren and plenty more piano. The part of the song that stands out the most to me however is a section that sees a choir take over the vocals which sounds very different from anything the band have done before. There is something of a Christmas Carol concert about the delivery, and this works really well before the song builds up a little more towards the end with some slightly heavier riffing and more dramatic strings.

Those now needing a little more of a metal fix will enjoy the short and punchy By the Light of the Funeral Pyres which is probably the fastest song here, so has a bit of an old school power metal feel at times. Norgren's drumming is fairly relentless, and Liefvendahl's guitar riffing bites with real metal power. The chorus sounds a bit like something from an old Sonata Arctica or HammerFall album, and some excellent neo-classical soloing from both Liefvendahl and Söderin really cement that power metal vibe further. Seventh Wonder are not a band to speed up too often, with their music mostly falling into the mid-paced category, so it is fun to see the band letting their hair down a bit here. Damnation Below returns to the band's more traditional sound, with an excellent melodic intro and choppy verses that still manage to sound polished and smooth despite some staccato drumming and off-kilter riffing. This is a song that has a really nice flow to it, with lots of catchy instrumental sections for prog fans to sink their teeth into. Despite often playing second fiddle to the rest of the band, Blomqvist's bass playing stands out here. There are lots of excellent fluid basslines from him here, and he often teams up with the guitar to make a really powerful sound. The short and murky Procession gives way to the epic and lengthy Exhale - the album's last song. Everything that makes Seventh Wonder great is contains within, with plenty of keyboard and guitar leads, pounding fast drumming, and of course Karevik's stunning vocals. Unsurprisingly given the song's length, this is probably the most diverse song here with a good mix of upbeat power metal and dense prog with lots of instrumental breaks and twists and turns. There is also some of Karevik's best vocal work on the album, with one bit in particular where he unleashes the highest note I think I have ever heard on record from him. He is not particularly known for his power metal screams, but he does a pretty good job at attempting one and it certainly made me sit up and take notice the first time I heard it! Despite the song's technical moments, there is still a hell of a lot of melody to enjoy - with a big powerful chorus that is repeated quite a few times throughout the song. As the song moves towards the end, the arrangements just get bigger and bigger, eventually hitting a dramatic and symphonic crescendo which ends the album on a real high. Overall, Tiara has been worth the wait and Seventh Wonder fans all over the world and no doubt listening to this album a lot at the moment. I still think that there is a lot here for me to uncover, as the album's story is still mostly eluding me. I will definitely try and piece this together over time, and I would not be surprised if this album ended up in my Albums of the Year list come January!

The album was released on 12th October 2018 via Frontiers Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Tiara's Song.