Pagan's Mind

Pagan's Mind is a progressive/melodic metal band from Norway. They have either four or five albums now, which are all themed around such subjects as spirituality, science fiction, fantasy, mythology, etc. While the concepts sometimes address controversial realms of the said topics, it never gets too blatant and Pagan's Mind is overall quite a wholesome and down to earth bunch--at least as manifested through the music. Pagan's Mind are great instrumentalists and their song structures although somewhat orthodox flow very well due to their utilization of such techniques as modulation. (see The Celestine Prophecy)They use a lot of verse-chorus structuring although they do so in a refined manner and aren't afraid to break rules a bit. The vocalist blows me away with his mature and trained style, which, although largely melodic, can at times be rather harsh and gritty in a good way. The guitar is nice and original with minimal generic chugging and plenty of melody. The keys add to this element further with a variety of nice synths and some piano. The drummer is somewhat minimalistic for metal standards although technically sound. I believe they use a six-string bass which is manifested in the deep sound which, although not particularly brutal, does provide a healthy contrast to all the melody. PM is not so technical, but rather I put them on the progressive shelf as opposed to "tech" or "math" genres. I certainly recommend this band especially if your are into lots of sophisticated, melodic compositions but don't necessarily care for anything too heavy. Overall score: 8.3

Composition: 8.7

Performance: 8.7

Production:7.8

Vox: 8.2

Lyrics: 7.8

Guitar: 7.7

Bass: 7.2

Keys: 8.6

Drums: 7.6

Genres: Progressive metal, melodic metal.