Concept albums can be a funny thing. Unfortunately, more often than not, whilst the albums themselves are technically good, they tend to be sloppily constructed around loose themes and it doesn’t feel like there’s an actual story being told, but a band that have perfected the art of a good concept album is Alyeus, a progressive rock band from Ontario in Canada.
Forty Days At Sea is an ambitious release based on a science fiction story being written by the band and not only does it deliver in the storytelling aspect, it also delivers musically as well. Written to be listened to as one continuous story rather than as individual songs, it’s almost like a musical adventure that the listener has been taken along on and it results in a very rewarding listen.
Sometimes with longer releases, you can find your interest wavering, or the songs aren’t quite interesting enough to keep you focused on them throughout, but Forty Days At Sea is different. It’s like you want to know what happens (even after you’ve familiarised yourself with the album and are on your ninth or tenth listen!) and the album keeps the momentum going from start to finish – no matter whether the story is being told by the vocals or simply just the instrumentation. This truly is like a book, but in musical form.
Although the vocals do let it down a little at time, as they occasionally feel a little weak in comparison to thick and smooth-sounding instrumentation, there’s not a lot that can really be faulted with this release as this is quite simply one of the best concept albums I’ve ever come across and is well worth your time to check it out.
9/10
You can see the story of Forty Days At Sea here.
