pagan's mind heavenly ecstacy

Released: 23 May 2011 Label: Steamhammer / SPV

After the four year album gap since God's Equation, Pagan’s Mind have come back and unleashed their fifth studio album Heavenly Ecstasy. Yes they have bide their time, but according to vocalist Nils K. Rue “For us it’s not just a button you can press and then get into, it has to come naturally”. However, the band are still blazing and have given us an album that has been worth sitting tight for.

Being the first ‘noise’ on the album, Contact seems to be more of a ‘scene setter’ rather than an actual tune. However as it rips into the following song Eyes of Fire it all ties in. The two songs weld together perfectly and lay a good foundation to the album.

With the galloping entrance parallel to the thrashing, heavy guitar Intermission is rough and ready all the way through. It isn’t just a song, it is a collaboration of decorative movements all crammed into six minutes. Pagan’s Mind have managed to stick solid to their roots, take their talent to a whole new level and produce an orchestrated medley of chaos. With the merging of the piercing vocals of Nils K. Rue, the thrashing guitars from Jorn Viggo, the roaring bass from Steinar Krokmo and the lashing drumming from Stian Kristoffersen, the song is bound together seamlessly. It shows their versatility at its best.

Live Your Life Like a Dream stands out particularly as it sheds a whole new light on the album. It isn’t as ‘choppy’ as the other songs and is much milder. Yes the song is very different to the rest and it is a risk to take, but they have pulled it off. It puts a finishing touch to the album.

As they fire into the merciless The Master's Voice, the album swings back into the ‘it’s all about the metal’. Falling back to the quicksilver riffs and the contrast between each different movement, this song is probably one of the fieriest of the album.

One of the biggest questions this album has to offer, is where the heck does When Angels Unite come from? Being the slowest and literally angelic song, the album imitates a ‘best of’ rather than a fifth studio album due to its variety. It does work, however, because it highlights their ambition to demonstrate their flexibility.

To round off the album we get Never Walk Alone. Like Live Your Life Like a Dream it’s much tamer. Musically there is no challenge whatsoever. The song is still scuff free yet they seem to have gone for the ‘nice’ approach as a finale rather than going out with a bang. It’s justifiable since it makes the album into a refined cocktail rather than one plain drink.

All in all Heavenly Ecstasy is a good album. Pagan’s Mind have cranked it up a notch and their four year wait has not left us empty handed. From the songs such as Revelation to the End which are large and in charge, to the harmonious When Angels Unite, the album has still managed to be fluent. Albums like these are simply hybrid, they are hard to pinpoint directly where they came from, but wherever it came from there’s no way you’re going to be able to put a leash on it!

by Kathryn Longbottom