Seventh Dimension – The Corrupted Lullaby – Album Review

Artist: Seventh Dimension

Album Title: The Corrupted Lullaby

Label: Corrupted Records

Date of Release: 1 November 2018

A new progressive metal band that I wasn’t aware of to discover? Oh the joy. These days, such pleasures are few and far between because sometimes I feel like I have uncovered all of the gems that this genre has to offer. That’s far from accurate of course and I’d not be arrogant enough to suggest that I am even close to such a feat, such is the great breadth of the prog metal genre.

However, the last time that I was blown away by a completely new progressive metal discovery? I can’t really remember if I’m honest. It may have been Oddland a couple of years ago, but I can’t be sure and it certainly wasn’t in the last few months, I can be certain of that.

And so, when the name Seventh Dimension appeared in my inbox and I saw the rather beautiful cover artwork, it was a done deal. I immediately investigated further, eager to find a new band to get behind and support with a positive review. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly how things have turned out I’m genuinely disappointed to report.

Those who are familiar with manofmuchmetal.com will be fully aware that I don’t generally write reviews of music that I’m not so fond of but I had a few people asking for my thoughts on this record and I felt I ought to put pen to paper so to speak.

Seventh Dimension are a Swedish quintet who have been in existence since 2009. They are comprised of lead vocalist Nico Lauritsen, guitarist/backing singer/songwriter Luca Della Fave, bassist/backing singer Rikard Wallström, keyboardist Erik Bauer and drummer Marcus Thorén. ‘The Corrupted Lullaby’ is the Stockholm-based group’s third full-length and they cite the usual suspects as influences, namely Dream Theater, Seventh Wonder, Symphony X et al. They also cite the likes of Scar Symmetry and Megadeth within the lengthy list.

The latter two references are surprising because of the lack of heaviness on this record. As you might expect from a ‘classic’ progressive metal band, the music is drenched in keys. That’s fine, I like keyboards. But not when the emphasis of the band is firmly in this direction and the guitars are subsequently pushed to the bottom of the pecking order. There are some nice riffs and some decent flourishes from Luca Della Fave, but they are completely robbed of any power whatsoever. This is truly bizarre given the fact that Della Fave is the primary songwriter and is also the guitarist. I’m not sure what he was thinking, but this music really needs more power, more grunt and more force behind it. As it is, it just sounds too anaemic and not metal enough.

If a band is going to forgo some heaviness, I want this to be replaced with memorable hooks, melodies or interesting musical ideas. Either that, or I want the other instruments to have a strong impact. Again, none of this really happens. I’m not caught up in very many of the melodies; they just don’t stand out and speak to me, to the point where I don’t remember any stand-out tracks on the album. The keys are perfectly pleasant throughout, but Erik Bauer doesn’t show us that he is another Jordan Rudess or Diego Tejeida. Equally, the production renders the drums and bass a little insipid, neither carrying any great weight.

Damnit, I hate being negative about a band because I respect the effort and the guts of musicians to record their music for us all to listen to. And I’m certain that others will find plenty to like about ‘The Corrupted Lullaby’. However, to continue with my misgivings, I must move on to two more aspects of this offering: the vocals and the length of the album.

Firstly, I’m in no way saying that Nico Lauritsen is a bad singer because he isn’t. I just find him a little unremarkable and when the music behind him is trying so hard to echo the likes of Seventh Wonder, it is clear that Lauritsen is no Tommy Karevik. Still, he does a decent job, just not one that gets the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.

And finally, the length of the record. Two hours? Really? As you might have guessed, ‘The Corrupted Lullaby’ is a concept disc, littered with spoken-word samples from the characters within the story, one with which I’m just not sufficiently invested. The album is spread over 14 individual tracks, with six extending into double-figures and beyond. It just goes on forever. Or at least that’s how it feels as I listen to it. And believe me, I have listened to it, so that I can be fair and offer a truthful, honest review.

I think it is time to end the review at this point. I’m genuinely sad that Seventh Dimension have not managed to engage me more with ‘The Corrupted Lullaby’. I wish them well with the new record and I hope that others will find the content more to their liking.

The Score of Much Metal: 6

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odIcGSmQcME]

If you’ve enjoyed this review, you can check out my others from 2018 and from previous years right here:

2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews

Hate Eternal – Upon Desolate Sands
Witherfall – A Prelude To Sorrow
Northward – Northward
Seventh Wonder – Tiara
Warrel Dane – Shadow Work
Haken – Vector
Beyond Creation – Algorythm
Ultha – The Inextricable Wandering
Amaranthe – Helix
Ghost Ship Octavius – Delirium
Decembre Noir – Autumn Kings
The Odious Construct – Shrine of the Obscene
Fauna Timbre – Altering Echoes
The Moor – Jupiter’s Immigrants
Revocation – The Outer Ones
Riverside – Wasteland
Ethernity – The Human Race Extinction
Dynazty – Firesign
Deicide – Overtures of Blasphemy
Brainstorm – Midnight Ghost
Krisiun – Scourge of the Enthroned
Kingcrow – The Persistence
Cast The Stone – Empyrean Atrophy
Omnium Gatherum – The Burning Cold
Helion Prime – Terror of the Cybernetic Space Monster
Madder Mortem – Marrow
A Dying Planet – Facing The Incurable
Árstíðir – Nivalis
Mob Rules – Beast Reborn
The Spirit – Sounds From The Vortex
Aethereus – Absentia
Unanimated – Annihilation
Manticora – To Kill To Live To Kill
Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name
Halcyon Way – Bloody But Unbowed
Michael Romeo – War Of The Worlds, Part 1
Redemption – Long Night’s Journey Into Day
Distorted Harmony – A Way Out
Tomorrow’s Eve – Mirror of Creation III – Project Ikaros
Atrocity – Okkult II
Lux Terminus – The Courage To Be
Kataklysm – Meditations
Marduk – Viktoria
Midas Fall – Evaporate
The Sea Within – The Sea Within
Haken – L-1VE
Follow The Cipher – Follow The Cipher
Spock’s Beard – Noise Floor
Ihsahn – Amr
The Fierce And The Dead – The Euphoric
Millennial Reign – The Great Divide
Subsignal – La Muerta
At The Gates – To Drink From The Night Itself
Dimmu Borgir – Eonian
Hekz – Invicta
Widow’s Peak – Graceless EP
Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik – Hugsjá
Frequency Drift – Letters to Maro
Æpoch – Awakening Inception
Crematory – Oblivion
Wallachia – Monumental Heresy
Skeletal Remains – Devouring Mortality
MØL – Jord
Aesthesys – Achromata
Kamelot – The Shadow Theory
Barren Earth – A Complex of Cages
Memoriam – The Silent Vigil
Kino – Radio Voltaire
Borealis – The Offering
W.E.T. – Earthrage
Auri – Auri
Purest of Pain – Solipsis
Susperia – The Lyricist
Structural Disorder – …And The Cage Crumbles In the Final Scene
Necrophobic – Mark of the Necrogram
Divine Realm – Nordicity
Oceans of Slumber – The Banished Heart
Poem – Unique
Gleb Kolyadin – Gleb Kolyadin
Apathy Noir – Black Soil
Deathwhite – For A Black Tomorrow
Conjurer – Mire
Jukub Zytecki – Feather Bed/Ladder Head
Lione/Conti – Lione/Conti
Usurpress – Interregnum
Kælling – Lacuna
Vinide – Reveal
Armored Dawn – Barbarians In Black
Long Distance Calling – Boundless
In Vain – Currents
Harakiri For The Sky – Arson
Orphaned Land – Unsung Prophets And Dead Messiahs
Tribulation – Down Below
Machine Head – Catharsis
Bjorn Riis – Coming Home EP
Twilight’s Embrace – Penance EP
Bloodshot Dawn – Reanimation
Rise of Avernus – Eigengrau
Arch Echo – Arch Echo
Asenblut – Legenden
Bleeding Gods – Dodekathlon
Watain – Trident Wolf Eclipse