Freedom to Music
Posts tagged Stream of Passion
Stream Of Passion – Flame Within (2009) (@256)
12 Aug 2010
(Review from metalstorm.net)
Main songwriters leaving the band can often result in questionable follow-up albums. You have to admire a band that shoulders the burden of responsibility, without the commander-in-chief calling the shots. With only two original members left from their debut “Embrace The Storm”, Stream Of Passion are most notably without musical mastermind Arjen Lucassen at the helm.
Stream Of Passion oozes enough of their own originality, yet call upon Within Temptation and Evanescence several times, albeit not as operatic or mainstream as those gothic metal heavyweights. Vocalist Marcelo Bovio is without doubt in the cream of the vocal crop. The young Mexican displays a fantastic range, with a soothing and melodious voice, that along with the excellent keyboard work, often carries the song on her own.
“When You Hurt Me The Most” shows Bovio and indeed the whole band at the top of their game, showcasing one of the catchiest choruses on the album. Indeed, along with “In The End” and “Let Me In” to name a few, incredibly well written vocal hooks and catchy choruses are the hallmark of the album.
The album is chock-full of stunning vocal hooks and music that is both haunting and sublime, displaying pop tinged metal tunes with soaring vocals and beautiful keyboards, but without being overtly mainstream in its delivery.
Line-up:
- Marcela Bovio / lead vocals, violin
- Johan van Stratum / bass guitar
- Eric Hazebroek / guitar
- Stephan Schultz / guitar
- Jeffrey Revet / keyboards & synthesizers
- Davy Mickers / Drums
with
- Ben Mathot / violin
- Judith van Driel / violin
- Mark Mulder / viola
- David Faber / cello
Track List:
01. The Art Of Loss – 4:00
02. In The End – 4:03
03. Now Or Never – 4:13
04. When You Hurt Me The Most – 4:47
05. Run Away – 4:18
06. Games We Play – 4:05
07. This Endless Night – 4:19
08. My Leader – 4:55
09. Burn My Pain – 4:19
10. Let Me In – 3:35
11. Street Spirit – 5:23
12. A Part Of You – 4:50
13. All I Know – 2:11
14. Far And Apart – 4:12
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Stream Of Passion – Live in the Real World (2006) (@320)
01 Aug 2010
(Review from blogcritics.org)
Some people thought that the band was suspect as a live band because the first studio release “Embrace The Storm” came together by exchanging files over the internet. This live album finds the band touring out in the real world.
In the set list, their debut album is represented with 7 songs, 10 tracks from various Arjen projects with an Elfonia (Bovio’s band) song and a “When the Levee Breaks” cover as a topping.
Marcela Bovio is magnetic on stage and she has her equally beautiful sister Diana by her side to provide the outstanding backup vocals necessary for all of the tracks the band runs through on the album. Damian Wilson (Threshold, Rick Wakeman) steps up and steers the ship for the Ayreon classics “The Castle Hall” and “Into the Black Hole”. Alejandro Milan creates a wall of sound with his piano and strings, and then adds some surprisingly good vocals in as well. Lori Linstruth has razor sharp guitar lines. She does a nice job answering Arjen’s guitar lines blow for blow and at times leads the way.
Line-up:
- Arjen Lucassen / guitar & vocals
- Marcela Bovio / lead vocals & violin
- Alejandro Millan / piano, strings & vocals
- Lori Linstruth / guitar
- Johan van Stratum / bass guitar
- Davy Mickers / drums
with
- Diana Bovio / back vocals
- Damian Wilson / vocals
Track List:
CD1
01. Intro – 1:28
02. Spellbound – 4:16
03. Passion – 5:40
04. Waracle – 6:15
05. Wherever You Are – 5:33
06. Computer Eyes – 6:18
07. Calliopeia – 5:20
08. Valley Of The Queens – 4:17
09. Haunted – 4:58
10. The Charm Of The Seer – 3:11
11. Deceiver / Songs Of The Ocean – 6:10
CD2
01. Day One: Vigil – 2:01
02. Day Three: Pain – 5:56
03. Nostalgia – 3:44
04. Out In The Real World – 6:31
05. The Castle Hall – 6:28
06. Into The Black Hole – 8:31
07. When The Levee Breaks – 6:07
08. Day Eleven: Love – 6:18
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Stream Of Passion – Embrace The Storm (2005) (@256)
29 Jul 2010
(Review from streamofpassion.com, progarchives.com)
Stream of Passion is another one of Arjen Lucassen’s side projects and features musicians from many different countries. The music is build around Mexican female vocalist Marcela Bovio’s beautiful voice. Arjen discovered her and she guested on Ayreon’s “Human Equation” album from 2004.
To form the band, Lucassen used the Internet to tap into the numerous talents that reside all across the globe. A year ago, Dutch drummer Davy Mickers downloaded a special track from Lucassen’s website to enter a musicians contest, and used it to showcase his incredible drumming skills. And just recently Lucassen discovered Lori Linstruth, an amazingly skilled American female guitarist residing in Sweden, among the members of the online Ayreon Yahoo group. Completing the band are Mexican pianist Alejandro Millan and Dutch bass player Johan van Stratum from the Rock Academy in Tilburg.
The band’s creative juices are flowing to and from between computers stationed in all corners of the world – recording, writing and matching up musical ideas to form songs. The end result is as diverse and driven as each individual band member.
Blending mysterious gothic vocals, metal guitars and atmospheric trip-hop, with haunting pianos and live celli- and violin quartets; the band’s “Embrace the Storm” album was released in 2005.
The songs on the album have chugging heavy metal riffs and lots of melodic elements both in the guitar playing and the omnipresent piano motifs but it’s Marcela Bovio’s melodic melody lines and emotional vocal performance that everything evolves around. The music is not as symphonic as the usual projects from Arjen, but there’s still an unmistakable flavour to many of the songs.
Line-up:
- Arjen Lucassen / guitars, music
- Marcela Bovio / vocals, lyrics, violin
- Johan van Stratum / bass guitar
- Davy Mickers / drums
- Lori Linstruth / lead guitars
- Alejandro Millan / piano
Track List:
01. Spellbound – 3:34
02. Passion – 5:20
03. Deceiver – 5:09
04. I’ll Keep On Dreaming – 3:45
05. Haunted – 4:31
06. Wherever You Are – 5:08
07. Open Your Eyes – 5:14
08. Embrace The Storm – 4:12
09. Breathing Again – 3:38
10. Out In The Real World – 4:32
11. Nostalgia – 3:08
12. Calliopeia – 5:39
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