Dan Swano - Moontower

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Free Music Notes for Moontower

Free Music Review: A true "SOLO" album in every sense of the word!
Hit: 5 Stars

Moontower is Dan Swano's first (and possibly last) solo album which he created after a 'not so nice' departure from Edge of Sanity following their 1997 release Infernal. Most of the songs on the album are dark, sombre with a subtle atmosphere conveying 'angry' emotions from Dan. After reading several interviews and talking to Dan himself, I guess anyone in his shoes would be filled with anger. This is how Moontower was created. It was a hard time in Dan's life and he says he wouldn't be able to release a follow-up to it unless he goes through such a terrible period again. Therefore Moontower is one-off album and that makes it simply unique.

Always searching for new ways of expressing himself musically, Dan tried a lot of mixtures in Edge of Sanity. He went from pure death metal to technical death to melodic death to a 'something' metal. So, when he decided to release a solo album (and to release his anger) he obviously took his style one step further borrowing a lot of 70's progressive rock and mixing them with meal using well thought out lyrics. Some of the lyrics are especially introspective reflecting Dan's inner world and allowing us to take a glimpse. I guess it wouldn't be wrong to say we see Dan returning to his roots on Moontower.

The first thing that hits you when you pop in Moontower is its godly sound. The mix and production, also handled by Dan Swano himself, is amazing. I can easily say that Moontower is one of the best and most succesful albums as far as production and mix are concerned. Listen to it with headphones and you can't help but smile being able to listen to each and every instrument so clearly.

Dan uses death vocals on the album with a few exception here and there. If you're not into death metal vocals, I still highly recommend giving Moontower a listen because this to me seems a great place to get into this type of vocals. Furthermore the vocals add a lot to the album. Dan doesn't growl just for the sake of growling. It's just when you're so full with anger, disappointment and all on your own, using these vocals to convey your emotions is the only thing you can do. I honestly don't believe Moontower would have lasted this long in my favourite prog-driven albums if it had clean vocals on it. Not that I diss clean vocals, I actually love them. They just wouldn't fit on Moontower. If you're on the lookout for prog rock with clean vocals, check out Dan's Nightingale project also available on Amazon. Unicorn, Dan's former band, is another amazing prog rock--very sincere and very warm.

Now back to Moontower, Dan Swano is a big fan of the 70's bands such as Rush, Genesis, Yes, King Crimson... etc. Also he listens to Marillion, Arena, Spock's Beard and the like. What we hear on Moontower is an excellent of lots of 70's music with metal arrangement so well worked out. Dan's usage of mellotrons (must be Dan's love of Genesis) give the entire album a subtle atmosphere, simply excellent.

This album contains two key elements: progressiveness and melody. Dan Swano does all the vocals, he plays acoustic passages, he plays the keys (keyboards are a big part of Dan's vision of death metal), drums (he played drums in several other bands including Katatonia and Bloodbath), bass (his bass lines are fat and to the point) and guitar solos. Wow! It's not just about playing rhythm, he plays intricate guitar solos coming right out of his soul. Kudos to him, he is one of the most versatile musicians I know of. The lyrics also belong to Dan.

There is not a single song I skip when playing this CD, they're all amazing. I love every note on this album. I love "Uncreation", "Sun of the Night", "Add Reality", the intro of the last song "In Empty Phrases", the mindblowing instrumental piece "Encounterparts". Everything. It's a very personal album to Dan and his fans. In case you think this isn't your thing, give Dan's other projects a chance. He's covered everything from doom metal to prog rock and metal to heavy metal to black metal to experimental instrumental stuff, so I'm sure you'll definitely find something that speaks to you. It should be in your best interest to check out Moontower, Edge of Sanity, Godsend for doom, Unicorn and Nightingale for prog rock, Lucassen's Star One for prog metal also featuring SymX's singer Russel Allen and Damian Wilson, Pan.Thy.Monium for extremely experimental death metal and many other projects which are just too many to list.

To sum it up, Moontower is one of my favourite albums from the last 5 years.

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