CONSORTIUM PROJECT V – Species
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 07-08-2011
Vocalist Ian Parry developed this progressive/power metal project around the time his previous band Elegy was ending – and with this fifth album he’s putting Consortium Project to bed. Some of the musicians behind “Species” include Kamelot drummer Casey Grillo, Pain Of Salvation’s Kris Gildenlöw on bass, Vanden Plas’ Stephen Gill on rhythm and lead guitars, along with a host of others in the developing power/progressive metal scene. Two female vocalists offer gothic, neo-classical nuances to the proceedings.
Songs like “Oracle”, the Kamelot-esque “Origins Of Mankind” and more conventional “Sirens” reflect all shades of Ian’s taste in music, darker when called for and also reflective and expansive depending on the arrangement and melodies at hand. Probably the heaviest and most intensely focused album to date for the Consortium Project, “Species” should give all lovers of power/ progressive metal something to cherish, as Ian’s powerhouse melody knowledge carries this effort.