THE SEA WITHIN-The Sea Within

Inside Out Music

In The Sea Within a bunch of very experienced musicians that have built up a reputation in the progressive rock movement have gathered together. Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings), Jonas Reingold (The Flower Kings/Reingold), Daniel Gildenlow (Pain Of Salvation), Tom Brislin (Yes/Camel) and drummer Marco Minnemann have united their talents in a group that directly throws a 2-CD with close to two hours of music onto the market. Add to that a bunch of guest musicians like Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess, Yes vocalist Jon Anderson and singer/guitarist Casey McPherson (Flying Colors) and you are looking at a line-up that is almost second to none for the progressive rock genre. Every band member writes music and has his say and input on this 2-CD, adding flavour and above all various musical influences to the mix resulting in a complex journey where there is also plenty of space for some instrumental jamming and improvisations galore. All in all it has turned out to be a quite complicated affair as the Sea Within flirts around with different musical styles, arrangements and instrumentation. Roine Stolt has done quite an astonishing job joining everything together trying to make the whole album sound like a tight unit. You can hear pop, jazz, heavy rock, progressive and symphonic elements bouncing around on the 2-CD and of course you will hear things and sounds that will remind you of the bands the musicians are normally involved with. For me the best of those elements have come together in a song like ,,Broken Cord’’, a song that takes only 14.10 minutes of your time and showcases all the qualities united in The Sea Within. It goes everywhere, still it has a very soothing underground and rhythm, has subtle touches, packs a punch, has intriguing vocals and a very rich instrumentation and quite unique atmosphere. If you dig this little jewel please dive into the rest of this remarkable release and get lost in a labyrinth of progressive rock heaven. Maybe only suited for a select audience perhaps but a rocker with a sense of adventure might even find something satisfying on ‘The Sea Within’. A too big of a record to digest in one go for most people I would assume. It has taken me quite some time and listening sessions to take it all in but that is just what it is all about in this genre. Take your time, digest, analyse and give the music the time to draw you in.