The album, as with most Ayreon releases, is an epic slice of power prog featuring a cast of characters made up of the great and good of hard rock and heavy metal. The featured vocalists represent a comprehensive who’s who of vocal legends. Any album featuring the vocal talents of Dream Theater’s James LaBrie, Epica’s Simone Simons, Floor Jansen, Tobias Sammet, Tommy Karevik, Russell Allen and Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kürsch to name just a few, has to be more than a little special.

The album spans two discs of epic/melodic/progressive/power metal, Lucassen as always likes to draw influence from a variety of music styles. For example, the track “All That Was” has a distinctly folky flavour to it, and this versatility is what makes the project so interesting. Every Ayreon album is unique in itself, however the project still has its own sound. The epic 12 minute opening track “The Day that the World Breaks Down” perfectly sets out Lucassen’s stall by creating an epic monster of a track, featuring contributions from all eleven vocalists, handpicked to fill the roles chosen for them. All of them are in fine voice on this album, proving what an amazing array of talent exists within the progressive and power metal fields.

Musically, the album is a success too, well-crafted progressive music played with technical brilliance by some of the most gifted musicians in the world today. Lucassen himself plays a number of different instruments throughout the album, he is augmented by a number of outstanding players like Mark Kelly, Guthrie Govan and Paul Gilbert, who shine throughout. A lot of progressive music tends to get lost in its musicianship, and they forget the art of songcraft, preferring a combination of exotic chord structures and unusual time signatures to good, catchy choruses. This isn’t one of those records, at the core of his songwriting, Lucassen understands that there is much more to writing music than merely making it difficult to play. The choruses are catchy, the riffs are unforgettable, and the style varies wildly across both discs, creating an album that never gets old or outstays its welcome. Coupled with the immense musicianship on show, it is a veritable success. Progressive metal played exactly how it should be, Ayreon are one of a select few bands who manage to get the blend between musicianship and songwriting just right, and I for one am glad we have them.