AYREON The Source

Arjen Anthony Lucassen is finally back with a brand new Ayreon album to follow up The Theory Of Everything which saw the light of day in 2013, and as always it's a massive piece of music to consume. I'm not going to spend much time on the conseptual story other than saying that instead of continuing the original story from previous albums, The Source takes us back to the beginng. The rest of it is for yourself to interpret. The first thing I noticed about The Source was that the music is more guitar oriented than ever, and in my opinion that's a good thing. Besides from that it sounds excactly as you would expect from Arjen and his helpers. As always the list of guest musicians is quite impressing, especially when it comes to vocalists. James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), Simone Simons (Epica), Nils K. Rue (Pagan's Mind), Tobias Sammet (Edguy), Hansi Kürch (Blind Guardian), Michael Eriksen (Circus Maximus), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Russel Allen (Symphony X) just to name some of them. The song material is incredible strong this time, and after a few spinnings I'm left with the feeling that this very well might be the best Ayreon album since 'Inside The Electric Castle'. The Source was recorded in Lucassen's Electric Castle Studio in Holland, and always he's done an excellent job with the production as well. Since this is a concept album that should be listened to in it's entierty I see no point in picking favorite tracks from the list. Amazing stuff.

Discography

The Source (2017)

The Theory Of Everything (2013)

01011001 (2008)

The Human Equation ((2004)

Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight Of The Migrator (2000)

Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer (2000)

Into The Electric Castle (1998)

Actual Fantasy (1996)

The Final Experiment (1995)