PAGAN’S MIND – Celestial Entrance

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, whatever, whoever, here’s easily the surprise of the year! The best album to come out of Norway since Conception’s heyday (as ARK isn’t really Norwegian); please welcome Pagan’s Mind, a good crossover of old Queensryche (Rage to Empire era), Crimson Glory and yes, Conception, as well as a solid dose of Dream Theater. The best album to come out of Norway in a while? Well, if you like the aforementioned bands, yes indeed – if you sacrifice cats in the woods at night – never mind…

This record has it all. Wait, no it lacks something. It simply has no weak tracks. All songs have identity, and despite the strong mark of each, the record itself has a strong sense of entirety, somehow… Don’t ask me why or how to explain, but it’s quite like ARK last year, all songs are strong, and all are different and stand out of the lot. Therefore, I don’t really care to mention any of them. And while we’re on ARK, or Conception, the guitar work showed on “Celestial Entrance” is of Tore Ostby class by the way, while the point of major improvement this time, comes from vocalist Nils K. Rue. I think he sounded a bit too tense and stressed on the debut, “Infinity Divine”, but now he reaches high up in the Tate/Dickinson-league, even using effects that make him sound a little like Mighty Midnight at times.

Actually, it’s not fair just to talk about the guitars, handled by Jorn Viggo Lofstad and Thorstein Aaby, and the vocals. All the work is done with perfection, also from bass player Steinar Krokmo, drummer Stian Kristoffersen and keyboardist Ronny Tegner. This is indeed one of the hottest candidates for “record of the year”. I knew the band had something going on when I heard the debut, but I didn’t expect the flower to unfold this much with the second. A band’s third album is always the hardest to make, and that will for sure be the case for Pagan’s Mind. But until then, make sure you grab a copy of this!